Promises to keep, The journey to see old friends
by bigrc71
Summary: Luffy and the Straw Hats made it to the end of the New World and the island of Raftel. The Revolutionaries take charge after the fall of the World Government. The world begins to change. With no real ties to the New World the Straw Hats leave to go visit the family and friends they left behind.
1. Back to the beginning

Over the course of their journey to the end of the New World the Straw Hats met so many people on the islands they visited and made friends and allies along the way. They met Trafalgar Law on Punk Hazard. The Straw Hat Grand Fleet was formed following the aftermath of the events on Dressrosa. Jinbe even kept his promise and joined the crew while the Straw Hats were on their way to Wano Kuni. Many more people allied themselves with the Straw Hats. However no one else aside from Jinbe joined the main crew on the Sunny.

On their way to Raftel they faced many people who were looking to take the title of Pirate King. But most notable of all the people looking to become king were the Yonkos. The fights against the Yonkos were by far Luffys greatest challenge he ever faced. Beating them he set himself apart from the greatest pirates of this era. Eventually they did finally make it to the end of the New World and the mysterious island Raftel.

Out of the five Straw Hats who set out from the East Blue, four of them have completed their dreams. They found the One Piece and Luffy became King of the Pirates. Zoro fought Mihawk and beat him, making him the strongest swordsman in the world. Usopp became a brave warrior of the sea. Sanji found the legendary All-Blue that he had been searching for.

Aside from Robin, Nami along with the friends they made in the Grand Line are still trying to make their dreams come true. Nami is still working on her world map. Franky built his dream ship and sailed it to the end of the New World. They still have yet to sail in the four blues but that will happen soon enough. Chopper is still working to find cures for all diseases in the world. He has made great progress with some of the vegetation from islands in the New World specifically the wandering island Zo. The Fishmen made some progress in the Reverie this past year. Jinbe only hopped that with the rise of the new revolutionary run government would the Fishmen finally have their day in the sun. Even thought the Straw Hats made it to the end of the New World they had yet to go back to the beginning of the Grand Line where Brook would see Laboon again after 50 plus years.

Many of the dreams held by the crew did or would change the world in some way or another. Luffy and Robins have had the biggest impacts on the world. Zoro's might inspire a new generation of swordsman. Nami's would make traveling and navigation easier, that is if she would actually make it public. Knowing Nami she would charge people for it. Chopper's dream would someday make the whole world better. As a doctor he has a responsibility to share his findings with the world. His conscience would never allow him to keep his findings private.

Luffy fought for his dream against the biggest names in pirating. But Luffy's fight was contained within the New World. Robin figured out how the Poneglyphs fit together and the world found out what happened during the void century. With the help of Dragon and the Revolutionaries the world or more so countries with corrupt monarchies would be weeded out and replaced with a different ruler or a new system entirely. To say the world has been flipped upside down might be an understatement. Across the world the various countries had actually seen very little conflict from the people within the islands themselves. But the new government had the old monarchies afraid. Monarchies like the Nefertari in Alabasta or the Riku's on Dressrosa had nothing to fear. Kingdoms like Goa who put the nobles above everyone else were on the short list to go.

The transitions of old systems to something new could rock the whole world potentially for decades to come. The Tenryuubito and the Gorosei had been hit the worst. They lost the power to do whatever they damn well pleased. All of the slaves of the Tenryuubito had been set free. It was a move that would've made Fisher Tiger proud. Even if he hadn't gone to Mariejois with the intention of freeing all of those slaves all of those years ago. He put his life on the line to do so and changed a lot of lives. All of those people who were set free would someday be able to come to terms with what happened to them and move on like Hancock and Koala.

The Marines organization as a whole would have been split following the world learning about what happened centuries ago. That would have been the case if the Revolutionaries led by Dragon and Sabo didn't rally the troops to take down the Gorosei and usurp the so-called god like rights the Tenryuubito had grown accustomed to over the centuries. Even Marines like Sakazuki who believed in a different type of justice took part. He had had enough of the Gorosei and joined the cause begrudgingly enough, if only to kill the World Nobles. He took joy in incinerating Tenryuubito who had been a thorn in his side and a pain in the ass for years.

In short the old government had been overthrown and the Revolutionaries took control of the wealth of the Tenryuubito. Not for their own gain but to ensure that bounties could still be paid out. Their still are a lot of dangerous pirates more so in the New World and in the Grand Line than in the four blues. Marines like Fujitora, Coby, Helmeppo & Smoker also former Marines like Garp, Sengoku and Kuzan who did their job solely to protect the innocent people from pirates who would do them harm were offered positions to help maintain the peace during the transition. Admirals, Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals and ranked officers were offered positions in the New Marines if they were willing to follow a new group of leaders and primarily protect the people of the world from pirates.

Instead of instilling the ranks of the Revolutionaries they used the system that everyone was more or less familiar with. The Revolutionary higher ups were given an equivalent position that would fit in the system. There would be much that would have to be done to get everyone on board for this to succeed. Now the only real secrets that the former Revolutionaries had were, well everything. No longer could they operate in the shadows like they used to. There would have to be some sort of announcement that would tell the people of the world that things were going to change and for the better.

Three weeks ago when the Straw Hats made it to Raftel, Robin went to work almost immediately reading, translating and piecing together the mystery of the void century. Once complete Robin got out the large white den den mushi and used it to send the information she uncovered to Dragon and the Revolutionaries. Even though Robin was a member for two years she had shown no interest in getting involved in the fight to come. Even if she had been interested the Straw Hats were on the other side of the World. It would have taken way too long to get back to the beginning of the New World. The Revolutionaries had been preparing and were ready to mobilize their troops at a moments notice.

The Straw Hats spent those three weeks on Raftel exploring the island and just relaxing. They earned some time away from the rest of the world. They gathered some supplies for the next leg of their journey whatever that was going to be. However they had no idea where they were going to go next. The one thing they did know was that they were going to have one hell of an adventure. At the end of their impromptu vacation they set sail for a yet unknown destination.

They sailed to an island that was just a few days away. They docked in the harbor of the island while they went to get the supplies they couldn't get on Raftel. There were three newspapers that had been printed in a short amount of time. One of the front-page articles was about Luffy becoming the new King of the Pirates. The second was about the fall of the World Government and what they had hidden for more than 800 years. The third was about the rise of the Revolutionaries. A few hours later they set sail. The following couple of days were quiet. They just drifted out on the sea with no particular destination in mind. Ever since they left the island a few days ago Luffy would spend hours at a time sitting on the figurehead of the Sunny staring out into the horizon. Today was no different.

"Luffy" Nami said trying to get the attention of her captain. It wasn't working. He was in his own little world while he was sitting on the figurehead of the Sunny. The rest of the crew were doing their own thing. "Luffy" Nami said again. This time Luffy finally snapped out of his trance, got up and walked over to Nami.

"What's up Nami?" Luffy asked

"Where are we going next?" Nami asked. Luffy put his hand on his chin and thought about that for a little while. While he was thinking, Nami had her arms crossed under her chest while she was tapping her foot waiting for any response.

After a few minutes the young King finally thought of something good.

"I started thinking about this while I was watching the sunset yesterday."

"Yeah, what was it?" Nami asked irritated.

"Well, I think it's about time we take Brook to see an old friend. Don't you?"

"You know, I think that's a good idea." Nami said cracking a smile, suddenly she wasn't in such a bad mood.

"BROOK" Luffy yelled getting the attention of the skeleton on the tree swing having a cup of tea before dinner. Brook got up from his seat and made his way to the front of the ship where Luffy and Nami were waiting.

"Yes Luffy-san." Brook said

"I was talking with Nami and we think it's time we take you to fulfill a promise to a friend from more than fifty years ago."

"You mean…" Brook was caught off guard. He was speechless.

"Yeah, our next destination is the beginning of the Grand Line."

Over the course of the year or so since they got back together Luffy had matured a little bit. He was even acting a little more like a captain and less like a hyperactive child. Don't get me wrong we would still play with Chopper and Usopp and he was still crazy. He just toned it down a little bit. He has been preoccupied over the past month or so. Almost everyday around the same time he would go to the figurehead of the Sunny and spend hours up there. He would just watch the waves that were made as the water would break against the side of the ship. Sometimes he would even stay up there long enough to watch the sun go down. Very rarely would anyone bother him. When he was up there it was an unspoken rule to leave him be. He would come down when he was done thinking or got hungry.

Once in a while he would act like a captain and call the crew to the kitchen or library for a meeting. He would start the meeting but would get bored relatively quickly and Nami would take over. He still didn't do the daily entries in the log. Really he was more or less the same old Luffy they had known for years. Just more mature in some aspects. He was about to call for everyone to gather in the library for a meeting. But Sanji walked out of the kitchen and called for everyone to come eat dinner.

"We will tell everyone after dinner." Luffy said excited for whatever Sanji had made for them to eat. He ran to the kitchen with his tongue hanging out of his mouth just like a dog.

"Let's go join them before Luffy eats everything." Nami said. Brook wasn't paying attention so she did all she could to get his attention. "Brook… anyone home?" She said waving her hand in front of the tall skeletons face.

"Sorry, Nami-san. I was thinking about the first time I met Laboon. He was so small back then."

"He will be glad to see you." Nami said smiling.

Nami and Brook headed for the kitchen. The rest of the crew was sitting at the table. Sanji was preventing anyone from eating, specifically Luffy. They always ate when everyone was in the kitchen. But Sanji made it clear no one would eat until both of the ladies were in the kitchen.

The door opened, Nami and Brook walked in and sat down at the table. With all of the crew sitting at the table they began their meal. Luffy began devouring all the food he could get his hands on. He was still a terrible clepto, he still stole from everyone to varying degrees. Over the years the crew had gotten better at preventing Luffy from taking so much of their food. During dinner the Straw Hats were talking to whoever was beside them and across from them about what they had done during the day and any random thoughts that popped into their head. Conversations shifted to how they were still surprised by the commotion they caused by simply landing on an island. They figured it was something they would have to get used to. Eventually all the food was gone and everyone sat in their seats very satisfied with their full bellies.

Sanji got up and went to work cleaning the dishes so they could be put away until breakfast the next morning. No one got up to leave after dinner had ended. They could tell that Luffy had something on his mind. They still couldn't tell if they should be excited or worried. But soon enough they would find out he had decided on their next destination.

"I've decided where we are going next" Luffy said

"Well, don't keep us waiting." Usopp said

"We are going back to the beginning of the Grand Line!" Luffy said excited

The four pirates from the East Blue all had smiles on their faces. Well Zoro's was more of a knowing smirk than anything else. They knew that there was a deeper meaning to the beginning of the Grand Line. Robin, Franky and Chopper on the other hand were left in the dark, as they weren't there at the beginning.

"Alright, I will bite Luffy. What's at the beginning of the Grand Line?"

"Don't you remember Franky? Back on Thriller Bark Brook told you a story about a nakama who they had to leave behind there."

"Oh yeah. How could I forget the whale. What was his name again?"

"Laboon" Usopp said excited

"I know you talked about this but I don't remember everything." Chopper said

"Well, when we entered the Grand Line via Reverse Mountain the first thing we encountered was an island whale named Laboon who was blocking the enterance to the Grand Line." Nami said "We also met an old man named Crocus who told us a story about a group of pirates he met fifty years ago. He told us all about the young whale from the West Blue who followed a group of pirates to the Grand Line."

"That was your former crew, wasn't it Brook?" Robin asked

"Yes, that's right Robin-san. That was my crew. We had to leave Laboon behind. He was only a baby when we entered the Grand Line. We didn't know what we were going to come across once we began sailing. However before we set sail to explore the Grand Line we did spend time with him. Our ship had been damaged before we made it over Reverse Mountain. We wouldn't have made it very far without stopping to fix our ship. We spent two months repairing our ship and getting to know Crocus-san. When it was finally time to leave we made sure Laboon understood that we would be back in a few years' time. But we never made it back. I am the lone surviving crew member of the Rumbar Pirates. It is my duty to tell Crocus-san and Laboon what happened to their friends."

"It has been a little while, but how could I forget something like that." Franky said wiping tears away from his eyes. It was a sad story but soon enough it would reach its conclusion.

"So that's the plan, we are going back to the beginning." Luffy said

"Great plan, but how are we going to get there?" Zoro asked

Nami pulled out the same map that they had used the first time they went down Reverse Mountain. "We are around here somewhere." Nami said pointing to a spot on the map not very far from the island they had stopped on no more than a few days ago.

"So are we going to sail back the way we came?" Chopper asked

"That would take too long." Nami said. "Franky, can the Sunny sail through the Calm Belt?"

"Of course she can. I installed a new engine under the ship, should something like this come up."

"So what are we going to do? Just sail through the Calm Belt and into either the North or West Blue then back up and over Reverse Mountain?" Usopp asked, a little of his cowardly side came out when he said that. But then again who wouldn't be scared sailing through the calm belt. It's just a nest of giant sea kings.

"That's the plan Usopp." Luffy said

"So which way do you want to go captain?" Nami asked

"We end up having to go up and over either way so let's go north!" Luffy said

"To the North Blue it is." Nami said

Nami and Franky went to the helm at the front of the ship. Franky turned the wheel hard to starboard. After sailing for two days they made it to the calm belt. At a certain point the wind died down and the Sunny came to a complete stop. Luffy, Usopp, Zoro and Chopper furled the sails. Franky flipped a lever on the steering column and the new engine emerged from the bottom of the ship. Soon they were sailing through the Calm Belt with no problems.

After a few days of sailing they made it across the calm belt and into the North Blue. After a few more days of sailing they made it back to Reverse Mountain. Having gone up the mountain once they knew what to expect this time. They were able to get a better approach and were able to sail up the current that had long ago been carved into the mountain. The Straw Hats made it up the mountain with little problem. On their way up everyone was talking.

"It's been over thirty years since I went over this mountain and made my home in Water Seven."

"I know how you feel Franky-san. It's been a long time for me as well. Its around fifty four years for me since I left my home in the West Blue."

"Eight or so years for me." Robin said

"Four years for the five of us." Nami said.

"I've never gone over Reverse Mountain." Chopper said

Everyone's expressions changed drastically after hearing that. You could see it on their faces. The normal expressions on their faces were replaced with ones that were terribly devious. They all had experienced this once before and now Chopper was going to experience it.

"Why do you all look like that? Should I go inside?" Chopper asked, concerned for his safety at this point.

"It's too late to do anything now Chopper." Nami said "Hold on to someone."

Instead of grabbing onto someone for safety he turned into his Heavy Point form. As he did that they made it to the peak of the mountain. They were launched into the air and soon fell back down. They landed relatively safely on the current flowing down the mountain.

"What did you think Chopper?" Nami asked

"It was scary but kind of fun. Let's not do that again for a while." Chopper said

The pirates all agreed. It was more fun than scary the second time but they would avoid Reverse Mountain unless they absolutely had to use it. Soon they were making their way down the mountain. They were surprised to see the open ocean in front of them. They made their way off of the current, sailed to the port side and docked close to the cliff.

"Where do you think they are?" Usopp asked

"They really could be anywhere." Nami said a little disappointed that they made the trip from Raftel all the way here just to be met with an empty ocean in front of them.

"So what do we do now Captain?" Zoro asked, redirecting everyone's attention to the usually loud and boisterous captain.

"We will wait for them for a few days I am sure they will be back." Luffy said cracking his trademark smile and laughing. This turned everyone's mood around considerably. However it didn't work so well this time for one skeleton.

"Don't worry Brook. If Crocus saw the newspaper then he must have figured that we would show up sooner or later." There was always something about Luffy, no matter how upset you were you would only have to spend a little time with him and everything would be alright.

The next day Nami and Robin were enjoying the nice weather and were talking about various things. They had Usopp pull out their lounge chairs and umbrellas. Sanji had brought out fruity drinks for the ladies to enjoy. Robin was reading one of her many books from the library. The rest of the Straw Hats were relaxing in the sun when they heard something. The five Straw Hats from the East Blue recognized the noise. All of the Straw Hats stopped what they were doing and ran to the back of the ship to see what was going on.

Out of the water came an enormous, dark blue whale. It was recognized almost immediately as Laboon by the five Straw Hats from the East Blue. They first met him more than four years ago when they first entered the Grand Line. He was just as big as when they left. Getting a second look at him he was close in size to the island whales they met before they entered the New World.

This was the first time Robin, Franky and Chopper had actually seen Laboon. The first time they were told about Laboon was after they went back to the Sunny to wake Zoro, Sanji and Luffy up after their shadows were stolen while they were on Thriller Bark. The four Straw Hats present at the time from the East Blue told them about their encounter with him and the promise they made to come back to the Twin Cape after they sailed around the world.

Right now Brook was the happiest he had been in quite a while. But at the same time he was overwhelmed that he was finally able to keep his promise from so long ago. Brook was glad to see an old friend had grown so big and strong. But then he noticed all the scars on his head. None of them looked like they were recent. But there were so many.

"You never told me he had so many scars." Brook said

"What would you have said had we told you about them?" Nami asked

"Nothing I guess, there is nothing I can do about them. They look real old." Brook said

"He had them when we first made our way down Reverse Mountain." Luffy said

"Who painted the Straw Hat mark on his head?"

"That was Luffy!" Nami said

Then Laboon's side opened up and out came a small island. Sitting in the chair like the day the Straw Hats met him was Crocus. When he saw the Straw Hats flag flowing in the breeze he was surprised that they would show up so soon. He made his way over to the Sunny. A few minutes later Crocus made his way up the rope ladder, over the railing and was now standing on the grass deck of the Sunny.

"Nice to see you kids again." Crocus said

"It's been a while, how have you been Crocus?" Nami asked

"I can't complain. I have been following your adventures for some time. I had a feeling you would make it to Raftel."

"Not many people know the name of the last island at the end of the New World." Nami said

"Yes, that's true. I told you I was a doctor on a pirate ship close to thirty years ago now."

"I don't think you told us how long ago it was, but you mentioned you used be a doctor on a pirate ship." Usopp said

"Well, what I neglected to mention was that I was on Roger's crew."

Luffy's eyes lit up he was excited to find out they already knew another member of Roger's former crew. "Speaking of Roger's crew, we ran into Rayleigh on Sabaody." Luffy said

"So that's where he ended up."

"Yeah, he coats boats now." Nami said

"I can't imagine Rayleigh doing that."

"We also ran into another old friend while we were traveling the Grand Line." Luffy said. Brook made his way down from the back of the ship.

"It's been a while Crocus-san."

"Well… you look different Brook."

"Yes, I guess I have some explaining to do. Why don't we go talk." Brook said

"Do you want us to wait out here Brook?" Luffy asked

"I don't mind if you join us, how about you Crocus-san?" 

"I don't mind either; I'm sure you already know most of the story."

The nine Straw Hats along with Crocus went into the kitchen and they began talking. Brook started telling Crocus what happened to them. He told Crocus how Yorki and a portion of the crew had gotten really sick. There was no cure for the illness back then. They had to stop off on an island to avoid getting the rest of the crew sick. There they said goodbye to the portion of their crew who had contracted the illness. That was the ship that tried to leave the Grand Line by sailing through the Calm Belt. They bought another boat on that island and continued on. Then Brook told Crocus how they were attacked. The attacking crew used poison coated weapons and broke the rudder. The Rumbar Pirates were left drifting in the Florian Triangle. A portion of the crew died during the raid. Before the rest of the crew could die they played Bink's Sake one last time. They used a tone dial to record it so one day Brook could bring it back here. Brook told Crocus how after spending a year flying around the Florian triangle as a soul thanks to his devil fruit he found the ship then spent the next fifty years drifting around. He told the story about how he lost his shadow to Gecko Moria. How he met the Straw Hats and how they got his shadow back for him. After that he knew the rest. All of their big accomplishment and failures had been in the paper. Well they were altered versions of the stories. But there was enough information to let him know that the Straw Hats were involved somehow.

"That is quite a story Brook. So I guess the information I got all those years ago was only half accurate."

"That would be correct. I am so glad I was able to make it back here and tell you all of this. I told you that the last thing the Rumbar Pirates did before we died was play our favorite song one last time. I want to play it for Laboon. I am sure he will be happy to hear it."

"I'm sure he would like that very much."

Crocus got up and went out on to the deck. Laboon was relaxing in the sun near the ship. Crocus walked to the side facing the ocean and got Laboon's attention.

Back inside the kitchen Brook was still talking with the crew.

"Can we use the speaker in the crow's nest to amplify the tone dial?" Brook asked

"Of course we can, that's no problem at all." Franky said

"If you wouldn't mind Usopp-san" Brook asked handing the tone dial to Usopp.

"Of course." was all Usopp said before he got up out of his seat and went up to the crow's nest to get everything set up.

Brook walked out of the kitchen of the Sunny. He walked down the stairs and across the deck. He stood in-front of this massive blue creature. Laboon was no longer the little calf they left behind all that time ago.

"Laboon, it's me Brook. Do you remember me? I'm sorry it took me so long to get back here." Brook said "All those years ago Crocus-san said that we abandoned the Grand Line. That wasn't true. We were attacked, and we all died but that is no excuse. But thanks to the devil fruit I ate, I was given a second chance at life. Everyone onboard the ship knew I would be their only option to tell you what happened. We went out with smiles on our faces, playing our favorite song one last time so one day I could come back here and play it for you."

Brook looked up to the crow's nest and Usopp clicked the top of the tone dial. Soon the speakers were playing Bink's sake. They let it play once for Laboon to hear that his friends were going out as they lived, happy to be playing music. They played the song one last time for their nakama who was waiting for a crew who would never return. Even though they knew they were dying and would not get to see their friend again the Rumbar Pirates put everything they had left into putting on one last performance. They took comfort in the fact that one day the song the crew and captain loved would make its way back to the beginning of the Grand Line.

Finally came the part Brook was dreading. It went from a fun song with the remaining members of the crew singing so joyfully to something that truly grew more depressing. The tempo went from upbeat and fun to something so slow. It made Brook brake down into tears. In the background he could hear his friends die one more time. To finish it off he heard his own death. Then to hear nothing until it just stopped recording.

Hearing this song on the tone dial was one of the most difficult things Brook has had to do. It made him think back to three years ago back on Thriller Bark, when he finally buried his friends and crew. He got the chance to lay them to rest on the giant floating island that had originated in the West Blue, the ocean they started their journey in. It was the place where they met and befriended a little blue whale who would follow them to the Grand Line. Brook hadn't noticed it but Laboon was crying as well.

In the meantime Luffy made his way up to the Crow's nest and started singing. It wasn't good by any means but it was the thought that counts. Brook had been so happy to see Laboon and sad all at the same time. But when he heard the captain who had given him a second chance sing he started to feel a little better. Soon everyone on board was singing along. A little less than half way through the song Brook started singing along. He was still sad, but glad to have met the Straw Hats when he did. If he didn't he would likely have still been in the Florian Triangle drifting aimlessly on a beat up old ship.

Once again the song came to an end but they sang it one more time with Brook playing his violin. This version was a lot more cheerful and was all around more fast paced. While the crew was singing Sanji got Luffy's attention. Luffy came back down and continued singing while he went to the kitchen followed not long after by Usopp. Sanji came back out with ten tankards of alcohol, one for everyone on board. Sanji passed out the drinks once they finished singing. Luffy held his tankard out in-front of himself and started talking.

"A toast to the Rumbar Pirates who lost their lives. They died fighting to keep a promise they made to a friend. May they all be resting peacefully back on Thriller Bark."

"KANPAI"

"KANPAI" Everyone yelled

"Thank you Luffy-san."

Luffy didn't say anything he just laughed and smiled his big goofy smile.

After that Brook went and talked to Laboon. He told him about all of the adventures he had been on with the Rumbar Pirates. He told him about all of the years he spent alone on their ship in the Florian Triangle. He told him how the Straw Hats found him and how they got his shadow back for him. He told him about how they were separated on the Sabaody Archipelago. Brook told Laboon of his years as a famous musician and how he played concerts all over the Grand Line. Brook talked about how they got back together and went to Fishman Island. There adventure on Punk Hazard. How they were separated for a time while half the crew was on Dressrosa. How they encountered a pirate ship of one of the Yonko's soon after leaving. How they managed to get away and head to Zo. There they waited for the rest of the crew. Once they met up with the rest of the crew and the Heart pirates they traveled on to Wano Kuni. He talked about their fights with the Yonko's and all of the friends and allies they made along the way. Finally how they made it to the end of the New World and how they got back here.

At the same time Crocus and the rest of the Straw Hats were talking about all of the same things. They told him of their travels and all of the people they met along the way. They had plenty of stories to share with the old man. During one of the stories Sanji had to get up to go make dinner. More time passed and Sanji called everyone in for dinner. Brook made his way back over to the ship. The stories continued through dinner. An hour or so after dinner ended Crocus made his way back to his home where he could get a peaceful night's sleep.

Eventually most of the crew called it a night. Even thought they were more or less safe, Robin took the night watch like it was any other night on any other part of the ocean. Nami was leaning against the railing closest to the kitchen. She was thinking back to earlier today while they were relaxing just waiting for something to do.

EARLIER THIS MORNING

"Nami-san don't you think it's time you tell Luffy how you feel about him?" Robin said being as straight forward as she always was. Nami did a spit take after she heard Robin talk about her feelings for Luffy. It wasn't hard to see that her cheeks were bright red. She was embarrassed but was it because of how direct Robin was, who the topic of discussion was, or was it because she was actually being confronted with talking about something very personal. It was probably some combination of all three.

"What makes you think I like him. Even if I did like him what makes you think he would even understand what I was trying to tell him." Nami said.

"I think Luffy is smarter than we give him credit for. He just might not know how to express feelings like this. Be ready to answer any questions he might have, remember it is Luffy we are talking about. Nothing he says is meant to be hurtful. He is just rather blunt about how he feels and what he is thinking. Just be patient."

"You're right." Nami said. "I will tell him. I just have to be patient with him." Nami was about to get up when she heard something familiar. "I guess I will have to hold off on telling him."

BACK TO THE PRESENT

Instead of going to bed or sitting on the Sunny's head Luffy was lying on the grass deck with his hat covering his eyes. He was relaxing and enjoying the cool night breeze. He heard someone walk down the stairs and over to him. The footsteps stopped and he sat up. Luffy readjusted his hat and saw Nami standing there.

"Luffy, can I talk to you for a minute?" Nami asked

"Of course Nami what do you want to talk about?" Luffy asked

"Something important, just not out here."

"Alright, where do you want to talk?"

"Follow me."

Luffy stood up and followed Nami up the stairs toward the girl's room. Nami stopped in front of her room and opened the door. She walked inside but Luffy didn't follow. She walked back out and stood in the doorway.

"What's the matter?" Nami asked.

"Is it alright for me to go in there?" Luffy asked

"Of course, I'm inviting you in."

"If Sanji finds out he will kill me."

"Don't worry about Sanji." Nami said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him into her room. Once they were both inside she locked the door behind her. Nami walked over to her bed and sat at the end. Luffy picked up a chair from the other side of the room and set it down in front of her.

"What did you want to talk about Nami?" Luffy asked

"When we started our journey you were always there for us when we needed you. You worked hard to accomplish your dream and a few of us are still working hard to make ours a reality. Our dreams have always been as important to you as they were to us. But now that you're the Pirate King, have you given it any thought as to what we are going to do now?"

"You guys did so much to help make my dream come true. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't help you guys in seeing yours become a reality. I am going to help you all complete your dreams no matter how long it takes. I promised I would and I will stand by my word. But, I did have some ideas on how I wanted to live my life once I became the King of the Pirates. You know I still haven't gotten use to saying that I am the Pirate King. But I know that if it wasn't for you we would've never found Raftel and we wouldn't be back here right now."

Nami blushed a little. Luffy had always recognized her skills as a navigator, but she was looking for more than a compliment on how talented she was. She wanted Luffy to notice her in a more…mature way. She wanted him to see that she was more than just a nakama. More than just a friend to have around.

She wasn't exactly sure what it was about Luffy that made him so attractive to her. It might've been the same thing that drew her to him in the East Blue. He was so different from all of the other pirates she had stolen from over the years. Back then he was always so care free. Now he has an air of maturity he didn't have four years ago. And of course he is still carefree now but it's not his default. What hasn't changed is that he is still so kind, he's always willing to put his own life on the line to help others as long as they don't give up on whatever is precious to them.

"To be honest I have been thinking about what is next for us." Luffy said

"The ten of us?" Nami asked

"No, I mean just you and me." Luffy said

Nami nearly passed out. 'Could this really be happening? Does he think we can have a life together that is more than just platonic?' Nami thought to herself.

"I told myself that I had to become the freest man on the sea before I could tell you how I felt. Now that I've done that, I can pursue other things. When we first started out I never thought about the consequences of my actions. I used to act crazy all the time and I was only focused on my dream. If I had told you back then I wouldn't have given you the attention you deserved and that wouldn't have been fair to you. It has been really difficult not telling you. When I first saw you after our two years apart I wanted to run over to you, give you a big hug and tell you how I felt. I wanted to tell you how beautiful you were. It got even harder while we were sailing around the New World. It was hard for me not to stare at you all the time. Especially since you spent so much of our time at sea in bikinis." Luffy said

Nami was surprised that Luffy really had thought this through. She figured she would have to explain her feelings for him. But instead she sat there just listening to him talk. Luffy made it very easy and very difficult for Nami to open up. That wasn't something she had expected.

Nami tried to speak but her words were coming out incoherently. But after taking a few seconds to pause, take a few deep breaths and cool off she was able to get her thoughts out into the open.

"How long have you had feelings for me?" Nami asked.

"To be honest it was really early on." Luffy said. "Not very long after I first met you, I think. By the time we had saved your home from Arlong and you decided to continue traveling with us was when I knew there was something about you I liked. I couldn't explain it, sometimes I felt really strange around you. Sometimes my heart would skip a beat when I saw you."

"That's more than four years ago" Nami said. Luffy just nodded his head. She couldn't believe that Luffy had feelings for her for so long.

"I had these feelings but to be honest I didn't really understand them. That was until I talked with Rayleigh. Now that I thing about it I don't think he enjoyed having that conversation with me." Luffy said rubbing the back of his neck.

Nami kind of freaked out at that response. "You talked about me with Rayleigh?"

"Well, of course I did. I mean I talked about everybody with him. But now that I think about it I did talk about you quite a bit more than anyone else. I think he understood what I was feeling and gave me some good advice. I mean it took a while to actually…" Nami stopped him mid-sentence. She grabbed his shirt all pulled him close and she finally kissed him. She had heard enough to know that Luffy's feelings were genuine. Their first kiss was sloppy but considering neither of them had done this before it was ok. Not long after they stopped to catch their breathe. She got up off of her bed and sat in Luffy's lap. Now they were only a few inches apart.

After all this time Nami felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She still had a lot to say and to ask, but she would have plenty of time to talk with Luffy. She was nervous but was more excited to have sex with Luffy. 'I can't hesitate I am ready for it to happen, I've wanted this for some time now.' Nami thought.

After they caught their breathe Nami wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and went back to kissing him. Now with the two of them so close together Nami's breast were up against Luffy's chest. Luffy copied her but instead he put his arms around her waist. As they were kissing Nami began to lick Luffy's lips asking for him to open his mouth for her to explore. He opened his mouth and let Nami feel around inside. Luffy copied Nami and soon their tongues were battling for dominance. Nami eventually let Luffy explore her mouth.

They stopped kissing and Nami got up off of Luffy and laid down on her bed, she motioned for Luffy to follow her. So he got up off of the chair and put his hands and knees on either side of her. They were both still out of breath and they were panting very heavily. They could see that the other had a glazed look of lust in their eyes.

Luffy started kissing her neck, and was slowly making his way down to her collar. He kept kissing and slowly made his way down her body. He kissed her chest and made his way down between her breasts to her flat stomach. She wasn't sure where Luffy had learned this, and she didn't care. When Luffy suddenly stopped kissing her she was less than pleased.

He took his Straw hat off and placed it on the side table next to the bed. He also took off his red cardigan and tossed it on the floor. Luffy got back on top of Nami and continued kissing her body. Nami wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer so he wouldn't get away. They continued kissing but soon enough Luffy froze. He was enjoying this but he wasn't sure what to do next. So Nami let go of his neck and moved her hands towards her jeans. She unbuttoned them and had Luffy help her wiggle out of them. She also arched her back a little so she could get at the string tied across her back. Once that was done she pulled the string behind her head and tossed the top across the room. With her jeans and bikini top gone all she had on were very sexy panties.

Luffy couldn't help but stare at the beautiful girl before him. His mind began to click and almost out of instinct he grabbed her left breast in his hand and started playing with it. He moved it around, every so often he would get a moan from Nami. He put his mouth over the other and began to flick her pink nipple with his tongue. "Luffy" she moaned out. So as to not wake up everyone on board Luffy took his mouth off of her breast and started kissing her again.

He stopped playing with her breast and he started lightly flicking her nipple back and forth and he would occasionally squeeze it. She continued moaning but it had been muffled drastically. Luffy stopped kissing her and moved down between her legs. He could see that a dark spot had appeared on her panties. So he decided it would be a good idea to move her panties aside and start feeling down their directly.

With the sexy panties parted to one side he started moving his fingers up and down her vagina. He took two fingers and spread her pink folds apart. He found a little nub near the top and was surprised when he put a little pressure on the nub Nami would moan. He continued feeling around and was shocked when he found a spot where he was able to put a finger inside. He put one finger inside and started moving it in and out. He would go fast for a little bit then he would go slow. He put a second finger in and continued alternating that motion. While fingering Nami he would use his free hand to squeeze the little nub with two of his fingers. He must have been doing something right as Nami moaned, arched her back and curled her toes. He felt Nami's walls tighten around his fingers as she orgasmed and the fluid ran out of her and down his hand. Luffy took his fingers out and licked them clean. Having seen this Nami was bright red. She couldn't believe Luffy just tasted her. "You taste great Nami." Luffy said. Nami just blushed even harder. She must have been as red as his shirt. Nami decided that now it was time for her to make Luffy scream a little.

"That felt great Luffy. Now I want to make you feel good."

Luffy just nodded, unsure of what was next. The pair got up off of the bed. Standing there Nami unbuttoned his shorts. As his shorts dropped to the floor she was surprised to see that Luffy was not wearing any boxers and that his not so little friend was already half erect. Nami playfully pushed Luffy down so he was sitting down on the bed. Nami got on her knees and grabbed Luffy's penis and started stroking it. Her hand moved up and down the shaft. It didn't take long before it was at full attention. She lazily started off licking the head of his penis. Luffy was surprised when she put some of his penis in her mouth. She started bobbing her head up and down taking more and more into her mouth with each pass. While she was sucking on him her long orange locks would get in the way. She was surprised when Luffy tucked her hair behind her ear. When she started she was slow and clumsy. But after several repetitions she started building up a rhythm. As Nami continued Luffy could feel something building inside of him. It was a feeling that was foreign to him. It didn't take too many more repetitions of Nami bobbing her head up and down on his penis before Luffy felt it.

"Nami" he yelled her name. Soon she felt Luffy explode in her mouth. She swallowed as much as she could but some spilled out of her mouth and onto her breasts. For a first attempt it was sloppy but Luffy wouldn't be able to tell the difference as it got the desired result. By the end she only managed to get a little more than half of his length in her mouth.

"Are you ready for what's next?" Nami asked. Luffy just nodded.

Nami stood up, slid her panties off of her wide hips and down her legs until they just fell to the floor. She stepped over them, laid down on the bed and got comfortable. She motioned for Luffy to follow her back onto the bed. Luffy did as she instructed. He couldn't help but to stop and stare at her for a moment. Everything about her intrigued him. Her long orange hair, her large round breast, her hourglass figure, her well trimmed orange pubic hair. He hesitated for a moment thinking about how Rayleigh told him to be gentle with a lady her first time.

"Are you ready?" Luffy asked

Nami just nodded and bit down on a side of her lip in anticipation. She spread her legs and took one hand to separate her pink mound. Luffy took his penis in his hand started feeling around for the entrance to Nami's vagina. After a little maneuvering he found the hole and slowly began to insert himself. He stopped when he felt something against the tip of his penis.

"Don't worry Luffy. Push through, it will only hurt for a little bit." Nami said.

Luffy just nodded and started pushing. After one good push he was through. Nami felt a jolt of pain run up her spine as her hymen was ripped open. They stayed there connected, motionless for a little while until Nami spoke up again.

"Go ahead, the pain is gone."

Luffy slowly started pushing his penis into Nami, only for him to pull back out. He pushed himself in and pulled back out just a bit faster this time. He repeated that motion but didn't keep that pace very long. "Faster" Nami said. So Luffy did as he was told and started going faster. In and out, in and out. He repeated that motion getting faster and faster with each consecutive thrust. He hadn't noticed but he had also been thrusting harder than before. Luffy had been so focused on getting it right he hadn't been looking at Nami. He looked at her face and the expression she was making showed that she was really enjoying it.

He looked up and down her body but stopped at her breasts. He watched her breasts jiggle forward and back as he was thrusting in and out. It was kind of hypnotic. He saw how Nami was grabbing onto the sheets of her bed. Over the time it took Luffy to look up and down her glistening, sweat covered body he felt a familiar pressure building. As he was thrusting in and out Luffy felt Nami's walls tighten around him. He understood what this meant. He knew she would climax soon. The constriction on his penis didn't help him any. In fact with the increased pressure around him, Luffy figured that he would be reaching his climax soon as well. They continued until neither one could hold out any longer. They finished at the same time. As Nami came she could feel Luffy's hot semen as it was released inside her. They wanted to keep going but they were both tired. Luffy went to pull out but Nami wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Let's stay like this for a little while." Nami said with a twisted, horny look on her face. Luffy had a feeling they weren't done just yet. So with Luffy still inside her he laid down on his back to allow Nami to take charge. But once he was lying down on the bed he fell asleep with a smile on his face. 'He's so happy, I can't wake him up now.' She thought. 'When he wakes up in the morning we are going to have some more fun.' Instead of riding him right now she decided to find some blankets and cover herself and her new lover up for the night. She layed down next to Luffy, she rested her head on a pillow and put her right arm across Luffy's chest. She wasn't expecting Luffy to move in his sleep but he did, he moved his right arm and set his hand on her right hip. Nami blushed a little at the gesture. Soon enough the red head was asleep as well. She too fell asleep with a smile on her face. She was the happiest she had been in quite some time.


	2. Where do we go next?

The new Pirate King slept soundly through the night with his new lover cuddled up next to him. It was still early in the morning when Nami woke up. She noticed that Luffy still had his hand on her hip. She didn't want to wake him up just yet. So she was careful as to not move too much. So instead of getting out of bed she adjusted herself a little so she could rest her elbow on the bed and rested her head in her hand. With her free hand she started tracing his abs, his scar and randomly moving her finger up and down his chest. While she was doing this Luffy fidgeted in his sleep and woke up.

"Good morning my King." Nami said playfully

Luffy was groggy from having just woken up but was aware enough to come up with a response that would surprise Nami.

"If I'm a king that makes you my queen doesn't it" Luffy said followed by his trademark grin while rubbing his eyes with his left arm.

"Yes, I think it does. That is… if you want me to be." Nami said

"I couldn't imagine having anyone else by my side." Luffy said. Nami blushed a little, she was happy to hear that Luffy thought of her that way. Then she remembered what she planned on doing last night before Luffy fell asleep. Her expression changed to one that would suit her persona of a greedy cat.

Nami moved Luffy's hand from her hip. He wasn't sure what she was doing but he decided to let Nami do as she pleased. No more than a few seconds later Nami was out of Luffy's grasp and she had ripped off their blankets. The blankets landed on the floor and in no time flat Nami was straddling Luffy. She bent down, placed her hands on either side of him to support herself, and she started to kiss him. As she was kissing him her breast were being squished against his chest. Between the kissing and her breasts on his chest it didn't take long for Luffy's penis to stand at full attention.

As it got bigger Nami felt Luffy's penis graze her vagina. But before she went to town on Luffy she needed a little stimulation herself. She moved forward so that now Luffy's mouth was full of her mound. Before she could say anything Luffy was already licking her. He had no idea what he was doing but he figured if he could find her little nub again he might just get the result he wanted. Well after some fumbling around with a face full of Nami he did something she didn't expect. He did find the little nub and he did lick that a little bit earning him a few moans he did something Nami probably didn't expect. He found her entrance and started licking around there, he even managed to get some of his tongue inside. After some more fumbling around Luffy figured out what he had to do. He would lick her pussy up and down then he would stick his tongue inside her. One time when he stuck his tongue inside Nami he must have done something right. Her body shook for a second as she came right in Luffy's face. Embarrassed she moved off of Luffy's face and was shocked to see him licking his lips. Words escaped her. She just couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Flustered she said "You… didn't have to… do that."

"Well, you swallowed mine didn't you?"

Nami's face was red and again was at a loss for words even if it was true. She moved backwards and got up onto her shins so that she was straddling Luffy's penis. She did this so he had a great view of what was about to happen.

"You relax while you let your queen takes this for a spin." While still straddling him, Nami grabbed his penis and guided it to her entrance. She found her hole and she sat down on him. She sat there for a moment getting used to the feeling of having someone inside of her. At this point she didn't care who found out. They could've been watching for all she cared. Just thinking that someone could actually watch her just made her blush. The color of her checks changed as she thought about putting on a show. It would be embarrassing to have someone watch her being intimate. There would only every be one man Nami would put a show on for and that is Luffy.

Nami still had not moved yet, she was getting used to having near his entire length inside of her. Once she was accustomed to it she started bouncing up and down. She started off going kind of slow to get a feel for how to do it. Soon enough she started going faster only to slow back down. As she picked up speed Nami's ass would collide with Luffy's thighs. The sound that was made as flesh collided with flesh echoed through out the room. She would alternate going fast and slow. When she wasn't bouncing up and down she was rocking her hips forward, back side to side and in circles. Each time she bounced up she would stop before Luffy's penis came out. One time she went too fast and he popped out of her. His penis coming out barely fazed her. She took his penis, put it back in and kept going.

All the while Luffy had been enjoying watching Nami's breast as they bounced up and down with her movement. Luffy decided he watched long enough and wanted to join in the fun and contribute in making her feel good. He reached up with his hand and grabbed her breasts. He played with them while Nami kept bouncing. Luffy would pinch and or twist her nipples. Once more she picked up the pace, she could feel her orgasm building. Luffy could tell he was close as well. Nami kept going until Luffy finally orgasmed. As she felt his hot seed pour into her she orgasmed screaming his name as she came.

Now Nami was tired. She collapsed on top of Luffy. Her ass was sticking straight out in the air. She rested her head on his chest. They stayed like that for a while until she finally spoke up. "I really wanted to do that to you last night."

"Why, didn't you? That was amazing." Luffy said

Nami was too tired to hit him right now. She would have to remember to hit him harder later, because he was going to do something stupid. It was only a matter if time.

"You fell asleep last night after only one round." Nami said

"Don't worry, that won't happen too often." Luffy said smiling as wide as always.

Nami bit her lower lip. She was just fantasizing about all of the things they would eventually try. Then she thought about Luffy's devil fruit power. It held so many possibilities. But the only one she could think of that would actually be good in the bedroom was…oh it made her wet just thinking about it. Coming back down to reality Nami finally realized how sweaty she was. Then an idea popped into her head.

"What do say to joining me for a bath?" Nami asked

"I wouldn't say no to just relaxing for a little bit." Luffy said

Nami climbed off of Luffy. Once she was out of bed she realized her legs were a little wobbly after the sex. Luffy had quickly followed her out of bed. She grabbed onto Luffy for support. Nami grabbed a towel so they could wipe down their respective private areas. After a little bit Nami could stand on her own. They gathered and put on their clothes from yesterday that had been thrown around the room. Nami grabbed a fresh pair of clothes to change into later.

"Go grab some clean clothes and meet me in the bathroom." She said. Luffy nodded and walked to the door of the girl's room. But before he opened the door he paused.

"Should we tell the crew? Or do you want to keep this between the two of us for now?" Luffy asked

"Why would you want to keep this a secret? Are you embarrassed to be with me?" Nami asked

"Wha…No of course not, I love you I couldn't be happier." Luffy said

"Did you say I love you?" Nami asked

Luffy had to stop and think for a second about what he just said. "Yeah I did, I said I love you." He said with a smile on his face.

Nami blushed and jumped into his arms. Luffy was a little caught off guard but caught her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his back and gave him a kiss. They stopped only long enough for Nami to say "I love you too." They went back to kissing but then they heard a knock at the door. An arm grew on the inside of the door, unlocked it and the arm disappeared into pink flower petals. Robin walked in without a care. Then she witnessed how intimate Nami and Luffy looked. She couldn't not say something about the scene before her.

"Oh my…did I catch you two at a bad time. I thought you were done." Robin said bluntly

"Robin, were you spying on us?" Nami asked getting down off of Luffy.

"Yes and no. I didn't see anything I was just listening. It sounded like you were enjoying yourself Nami-san."

"How much did you hear?"

"Oh, I heard more than enough."

Nami could only blush at the thought of Robin listening to them having sex.

"Just a warning, I would watch out for Sanji. He should be heading to the kitchen any minute now to make breakfast. So if you are going I would go now or wait for a little bit." Robin said

Nami picked up her clothes and was about to head for the door. But before she did that she kissed Luffy, winked and walked out of the room. After that she headed for the back of the ship and went to the bathroom.

"You look very happy this morning Luffy." Robin said

"Yeah, I am. We had a great night. How long were you really listening Robin?"

"Oh, not very long. But I thought I would tease Nami a little." Robin said smiling.

"I have to talk with Nami. I don't know what she wants to do." Luffy said

"Don't worry, I won't say anything. It's not my place to tell the crew about your love life."

"Thank you Robin, I appreciate it."

"It's not a problem, now enough talking with me. Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"You're right I don't want to keep her waiting." Luffy said before he ran out the door. Sanji was already in the kitchen prepping for breakfast. Luffy went to the guys room, grabbed some clothes and made a b line for the bathroom. In no time at all Luffy had made it to the bathhouse door. He went inside, stripped down, and went through the second door. A little while later the new couple got into the bath together. Luffy and Nami sat next to each other. Luffy put his arm across the top of Nami's back and rested his hand on her left shoulder.

"This is so relaxing, isn't it?" Nami asked

"Yeah…it's great." Luffy said holding onto Nami so he didn't sink too much.

"How could I forget. You lose your strength in this much water."

"Yeah, I forgot myself. I think we can cross off having sex in here."

"Wow, you really do have a dirty mind don't you?" Nami asked. "Maybe not while we're in the bath but I wouldn't count this room out yet." Nami just smirked.

"If you say so."

Nami didn't say anything else she just sat there thinking. Luffy had been soaking in the bath long enough. He stood up and sat on the edge of the bath next to Nami while she stayed in the water. After a little while Nami finally spoke up.

"I was thinking about what you asked me earlier. I think we should just tell them. I don't want to have to lie to our friends about us."

"You're right. Besides I'm not really worried about how most of the crew will react. I'm mostly concerned with what Sanji will say." Luffy said

"Don't worry about Sanji. I will deal with him if he acts stupid."

A little while later Luffy and Nami made their way down from the bathroom to the kitchen. Brook, Zoro, and Franky were already there pestering Sanji for breakfast. Sanji sensed Nami walk into the kitchen and he noddled over to her and handed her a glass of fresh tangerine juice.

"Thank you Sanji-kun." Nami said

Usopp and Chopper walked in. "Sanji is breakfast almost ready?" Usopp asked. The rest of the crew started voicing their opinions about how slow Sanji was in preparing their breakfast.

"Shut up you bastards." Sanji said "Robin-chan still isn't here yet."

Luffy and Nami took the two open seats next to each other. It was then that Zoro noticed something different about their captain today. But before he got a chance to say anything Robin walked into the kitchen followed by Crocus.

"Hope I'm not intruding." Crocus said

"No, not at all. I always make plenty of food. I have to, to fill for our captain's bottomless pit he calls his stomach." Sanji said. Then he noticed something. All of the other idiots were complaining about not having been fed yet. But the so-called bottomless pit hasn't said a word since he walked in. For once he was being patient.

"You feeling alright Luffy?" Sanji asked. "You're never patient usually you won't shut up until there is food in front of you." Everyone shifted their focus to Luffy.

"Huh…oh, sorry. I just have been thinking about a few things."

"Still?" Sanji asked. "You spent so much time on the figurehead of the Sunny thinking recently. You going to tell us what you have been thinking about?"

"Well yeah. I figured since we are at the beginning of the Grand Line now is as good a time as any to go visit our friends and family back in the East Blue."

"I like that idea, I can't wait to see the look on Kaya's face when I tell her all about our adventures and the things that we've seen."

"She still might think that they are lies. Some of the things we have seen were pretty unbelievable. You also tend to exaggerate your roles in stories." Sanji said

"Hey, I don't exaggerate nearly as much as I used to." Usopp said trying to defend himself.

"I can't wait to tell the old geezer about the All-blue. He is going to be so jealous."

"It was quite the site, wasn't it kid?" Crocus asked

"Yeah it was amazing. I keep forgetting that you've been to the end of the New World already."

"It's going to be bittersweet going back to my dojo."

"Think about what all the students training there. What are they going to say when they see the man who beat Mihawk and became the worlds strongest swordsman walk up to the front door." Crocus said

Zoro cracked a little smile just long enough for a certain archaeologist to notice. But he quickly reverted back to his ever imposing grimace.

"I can't wait to see Nojiko and everyone from my village. I wonder what's changed in four years."

"Anywhere else you guys want to go? We are going to go to Drum Island, Alabasta, Water 7 once we get back from the East Blue. Is there any place you would like to go visit Robin?" Luffy asked

"I have to think about that Luffy-san. But when we get back to the New World, I was thinking it might be time for me to go visit what's left of Ohara. By now it's probably full of lush green vegetation."

"That sounds both beautiful and horrible all at the same time. It will likely bring horrible repressed memories to the surface after all this time." Nami said

"You're right it does. But that tragedy happened more than two decades ago. It might be sad but look at where it's gotten me. Without that I probably wouldn't be here. So I am ok with going back."

"We have lots to places to visit. We are going to be busy for a while. We left things unfinished back in the New World. But what's the point of being the King of the Pirates if we aren't able to go where ever we please?"

No one said anything they just all just nodded.

"Breakfast is ready." Sanji said

Sanji walked around and put plates full of food in front of everyone then he put two big platters of food down in the middle of the table for anyone to take seconds. Most of the hungry crew acted semi civilized while they ate. Luffy was acting like Luffy again. He scarfed down one helping and grabbed more. The crew noticed something off about Luffy's eating habit. Like usual he would steal food but not once did he try to take food from Nami. But then again that wasn't too strange considering Nami seemed to be the only one who could beat some sense into the young pirate turned king. Soon enough breakfast ended just like any other morning. Luffy finished off all of the uneaten food leaving Sanji only to gather and wash the dishes. The crew was left talking about their next move.

"So where are we going to visit first?" Usopp asked

"Well I hadn't really thought that far ahead." Luffy said

"We should probably start with the furthest island and work our way back towards Loguetown." Robin said

"That sounds good to me." Luffy said

"It wouldn't be a bad idea to go back to Loguetown for supplies before we head back to the Grand Line." Sanji said

"It's so convenient being able to come and go as we please. Not having to go over Reverse Mountain every time we want to come back is going to be nice." Nami said

"Should we get the ship ready to set sail Nami?" Usopp asked

"Before we do that I have one more thing I want to say." Luffy said

"Oh, and what would that be Luffy-san?" Brook asked

"Nami and I are together now." Luffy said putting his arm around Nami's shoulder.

Robin just quietly laughed it off as she already knew. Zoro crossed his arms and nodded his head in understanding 'Now it makes sense.' He thought. The rest of the crew went silent at the revelation. Then they all turned to Sanji who hadn't said a word yet. He had just taken out a new cigarette from the pack and went to light it. He took a deep calming breath and took a puff of the newly lit cigarette.

"If Nami-san is happy who I am to ruin their relationship. Am I jealous? Of course I am but if I tried to break them up it would make me an ass." Sanji said

The whole crew had their mouths on the table. They couldn't believe it. The ladies man Sanji was going to give up on Nami just like that.

"Luffy" Sanji said

"Yeah"

"Promise me one thing." 

"Sure, anything."

"Luffy, promise me that you won't hurt her. I don't care if you are the King of the Pirates. Because if you do hurt her in any way, I will kill you."

"Of course, I would never do anything to hurt her."

"You'd better not."

"Thanks, Sanji"

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Because you didn't freak out like I thought you would."

"Like I said I'm not going to take away Nami-sans happiness. But just because you two are together doesn't mean I'm going to be any less nice to her. But… maybe I could tone it back a little."

"I would appreciate it."

"I wondered when this would happen." Crocus said

"Huh" replied the entire crew

"What do you mean?" Nami asked

"Think about it, who in a pirate crew spends the most time together?"

"The captain and the navigator." Robin said

"That is correct. However I didn't except your captain to ever figure out anything about love. He didn't seem the type."

The crew just laughed it off. Crocus was right. Who would have thought that their seemingly asexual, idiotic captain would have ever figured out anything that has to do with love. Let alone fall in love with the one who could actually cause him pain.

"I think it's time we get ready to head out guys." Luffy said

"Aye." Most of the crew said. They all got up and headed out the door and awaited orders from Nami. Sanji stayed behind in the kitchen to finish cleaning up from breakfast. While Sanji was cleaning up he didn't notice Crocus hadn't left yet.

"I take this news comes as a surprise to you?"

"You mean Luffy and Nami-san?"

"Of course."

"Yes and No."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Like you said Luffy never seemed the type for this kind of stuff. But at the same time they had been spending more time together."

"You seem to have this well under control. Hope everything works out for you in your search for love kid." Crocus said before got up and walked out the door.

'Why do I have to fall for Princesses?' Sanji thought to himself. 'Well with the fall of the old government who knows. Maybe I have a shot.' It didn't take too long for Sanji to finish up in the kitchen. He went outside to see if there was anything else he could do to get the ship ready to sail. By time he got outside everything was set and ready to go. Crocus said his goodbyes to the rest of the crew but saved Brooks goodbye for last.

"I'm glad to have been able to see you again Brook."

"It was very nice getting to see you again Crocus-san. It took me far longer than we had originally planned to get back here. But it was worth the wait and it was so nice to see old friends again."

"Well, this isn't really goodbye. You guys will make your way back here before you continue on to the Grand Line."

"I suppose you are right. Until then I guess."

At the same time the other Straw Hats were talking amongst themselves.

"Hey Luffy, what about settling your fight with Laboon?" Usopp asked 

"There never was going to be a rematch. I only started the fight when we met him so he would stop hurting himself."

"Is that how he got all of those scars on his face?" Chopper asked

"Yeah, he got those from ramming his head against the Red Line."

"What doesn't surprise me is that Luffy would fight a whale." Franky said

Brook and Crocus finished their goodbye and parted ways. Crocus made his way off of Sunny and back to his island. Finally the Straw Hats were ready to leave. Franky flipped a switch on the helm and got the new engine ready. He turned the wheel hard to starboard and they began sailing away. The rest of the crew minus a few were on the back deck outside behind the kitchen to wave to Laboon and Crocus.

They did not make it very far before Brook made his way to the crow's nest. He started playing Bink's sake on his electric violin he got on a technologically advanced island in the New World. Laboon looked happy to hear what they assumed was his favorite song one more time. It still brought back good memories from when he was little.

Soon enough Franky stopped using the engine, they dropped the sails and continued sailing on. As the Straw Hats got further away the sound of Laboon began fading but was still plenty clear. Eventually they got far enough away to the point where the sound faded and couldn't be heard anymore. Once they were far enough away Brook came down from the crow's nest to relax with the rest of the crew on the grass deck.

"It was great seeing Laboon again. He has grown so big. I just wish that the rest of my crew could have seen him."

"That would have been great but at least you got explain what really happened and you got to play the song you all recorded for him." Nami said

"Well we will see him again before we head for Drum Island."

"Are we going to go to Luffy-sans home first?" Brook asked

"That would make sense. That is where all this started." Robin said

"You know, now that I think about does anyone know where you actually grew up Luffy?" Nami asked

"I never really talked about my past." Luffy rubbed his chin and thought for a little bit. "I grew up on Dawn Island. But I spent most of my childhood in the forest of Mt. Corvo."

"You spent your childhood in a forest, why does that not surprise me for some reason." Sanji said

"Oh it was interesting you have no idea Sanji."

"You mean there is more to it than that?"

Luffy didn't say another word he just laid down on the grass deck of the Sunny, covered his eyes with his hat and fell asleep.


	3. To Dawn Island

A few days had passed since the Straw Hats had gotten some information out of Luffy about where he grew up. Nothing really interesting happened while they sailed through the Grand Line to the Calm Belt. While they made their way through the Calm Belt they encountered some giant sea kings but the monster trio were more than strong enough to deal with them should they attack. But their sheer scale in relation to the Sunny was frightening. It made Franky nervous that his baby would be destroyed by one of these giant sea kings. There were plenty of them swimming around but they never got too close. And they never attacked. For the life of the crew they couldn't figure out why they weren't in any danger. The Sea Kings noticed them sailing through their home and the Straw Hats couldn't help but see them. But for some reason they just both went about their days like nothing happened.

"I can't believe these giant sea kings haven't even bothered attacking us." Usopp said

"I can't believe that came out of your mouth Usopp." Nami said

"I know right. But seriously do they not see us as a threat and more as a waste of energy?"

"I have no idea, but just be glad that they are just leaving us alone." Nami said

The Straw Hats continued to sail and eventually made their way into the East Blue.

"Do you guys remember when we were sailing toward Reverse Mountain the first time?" Nami asked

"Of course, we ended up in the Calm Belt. That was a terrible day." Usopp said

"Really, you accidentally sailed into the Calm Belt?" Franky asked

"Yeah, we did. I don't remember were we getting chased by the Marines?" Usopp asked

"No you idiot, we were sailing through a storm. While we were in the kitchen talking about how we were going to have to go up Reverse Mountain the storm changed our course."

"I remember that." Luffy said "The Merry ended up on the nose of A black and white Sea King. I don't even think the damn thing noticed us."

"That sounds horrible." Chopper said

"It wasn't so bad except the Sea King sneezed, we were launched into the air and Usopp was almost eaten by another Sea King."

Usopp shuddered at the thought. "Thanks for reminding me. That wasn't something I wanted to remember."

The Straw Hats sailed on for the next few weeks. They stopped at several islands along the way to restock on supplies. Occasionally Nami would shop for new clothes. But instead most of her time would go to working on her world map. Sometimes she would go off by herself and spend hours taking notes and measurements of the islands they visited. Sometimes she would take Luffy with her. Sometimes it was just for him to carry her things, but it was more to have someone keep her company while she worked. It was strange when they were alone. Luffy was different while he was with Nami when she was working. He wasn't as hyper active as he would be on the ship. He would sit on the ground against a tree with his hat covering his eyes and relax. Often he would just sleep.

"I am almost done taking notes Luffy." Nami said

"Take your time, it's nice sometimes just taking it slow. I mean this is an all new adventure for us." Luffy said grinning.

Nami was surprised to hear Luffy think like that. 'When he's on the ship he is always doing something. He is actually good company when we are alone.' Nami thought

Luffy had fallen asleep while Nami was thinking to herself. Nami walked off to finish her work. 'I will let him sleep.' She thought. An hour later Nami had finished all that she would need to make a map of the island. She walked back to where Luffy was still napping and sat down in his lap. Almost instinctively Luffy moved his arms and wrapped them around her stomach. It didn't take long for Nami to drift off to sleep after having walked all over the island. An hour or so later Luffy's stomach woke him up. He noticed how Nami was sitting. She had been resting her head in the crook of his neck. Luffy stayed as still as he could but Nami soon woke up.

"You have a nice nap?" He asked

"Yeah I did. But now my neck is a little sore." She said while trying to stretch out the kink. After a loud crack Nami stood up. She stretched and Luffy got up immediately after and did the same. It was then that she noticed the bulge in his shorts.

"Well would you look at that." She said

"What?" Luffy said looking down at his shorts. "Oh that." He said

"You must have had a nice dream." Nami said getting a naughty look in her eyes and a devious smile across her face.

"Of course I did, but having you fall asleep in my lap didn't hurt." Luffy said

Nami got down on her knees and unbuttoned his shorts. In one swift motion pulled down Luffy's shorts and boxers. She grabbed his penis and put started to stroke it. After several strokes it was hard enough to put it in her mouth. After bobbing her head forward and back a few times Luffy was completely erect. She took his cock out of her mouth, stood up and turned around. She put her hands up against a tree and shook her plump ass in Luffy's face. Even being the idiot he is he understood. He reached in front of Nami and unbuttoned her jeans. Copying her, he pulled everything down in one quick motion. Once again copying Nami he got down and started licking her vagina. At one point he even put his tongue inside her. "Oooh" Nami said surprised.

After Luffy had gotten Nami wet he stood back up, took his penis in his hand and started rubbing the head against her lips. Luffy found her hole and inserted himself. He put his hands on her hips and started thrusting. He went slow for a little while but suddenly started going faster. Luffy didn't go all the way down to the base every time but when he did there was a clap as Nami's ass and Luffy's thighs collided. He kept thrusting in and out of Nami's pussy. When he did go down to the base he could feel a small hole further inside Nami he would have to try and remember to ask later. While trying to think he lost his rhythm but quickly got back into it. He kept going in and out at varying speeds until he felt Nami's walls tighten. At this point he went even faster until they both felt their release coming. Soon Luffy released everything inside Nami. Feeling the hot semen inside her mixed with Luffy still going brought her over the edge. As she felt her orgasm she screamed out his name. Being out in the woods she didn't even bother trying to hide her moans.

They both just stood there for a minute to catch their breath. Luffy ready to go again he began thrusting into Nami. This time as he was thrusting away he untied the string behind Nami's neck and pulled down her shirt until it was around her stomach. He stood there leaning forward a little with one hand on her hip as he used his other arm and played with her breasts. Squeezing her nipples. They kept going in that position until they both came two more times. After that they called it quits at least for now. They cleaned themselves up and got dressed.

"Nami I have a question for you."

"Sure what is it?"

"What was that other hole I felt while I was inside you?"

"You felt… another hole." Nami was bright red and she involuntarily placed her hand on her stomach. She paused a minute before answering.

"That is something we need to have a serious discussion about. That part of me is something that would change our lives."

"What do you mean?" 

"Beyond that hole is where a baby grows before it's born."

"Oh, having a baby would be quite a change and a lot of responsibility."

"Don't worry for now. I've been taking the medicine chopper has made for me. I don't plan on having children for at least a few years."

"I don't think it would be so bad, but I think we have plenty more to see before having a family." Luffy said

"We still have four Blues to see and so many islands in both the Grand Line and New World. But I am glad you aren't opposed to it sometime down the road."

"How could I not be, but you have to tell me when you are ready." Luffy said

"Well, that is enough about that for now. Would you mind carrying me back to the ship?" Nami asked. Luffy turned around and gestured for her to climb on his back.

"We have a long walk through the woods."

With Nami and all of her gear in tow the couple headed back for the Sunny. Nami fell asleep on their walk home. After stopping a few times to adjust the sleeping girl on his back the pair made it back to the Sunny.

"Oh, my my what do we have here. Nami-san was so tired she fell asleep? You two were gone for quite some time. I take it you took care of some other business while you were alone." Robin said

"You might say…" Luffy was interrupted. "Ouch" Luffy said "What was that for Nami?"

"Felt like it." She said

"How long have you been awake?" Luffy asked

"Not… long." She said in between yawns

Nami got down off of Luffy's back, kissed him on the cheek and climbed up the ladder to the deck. Luffy followed her up the ladder and into the girls room. He set down her stuff on the bed. He went to walk out of the room but Nami stopped him. "I'm going to take a bath you want to come?"

Luffy nodded. Nami grabbed a clean pair of clothes for Luffy. Since they told the crew they had become a couple Nami began keeping a change of clothes for Luffy in her closet for such an occasion. Well the couple went into the bath and some time later walked out. By time they walked out of the bath Sanji had finished preparing a late lunch.

Everyone was in the kitchen enjoying their lunch when Franky asked a question.

"So how long until we get to Luffy's island?"

"We should be there tomorrow." Nami said

"I can't wait to see where Luffy-san grew up." Brook said

"It's a really quiet place but it should be fun to cause some commotion."

"What do you mean?" Nami asked

"It was always a quiet place I think. I didn't spend that much time in the village when I was little. I can only imagine what they will have to say when they see us sail up."

"Well, I'm sure when they see you they will be excited. They might at least recognize us from our wanted posters and the articles in the paper." Usopp said

"I think you might be right even if some of our wanted posters don't even show our faces. You know when I left to start my journey the whole town gathered to see me off."

"Really, the whole town was there?" Chopper asked

"Well, maybe not the whole town but a lot of people did see me set sail."

"It will be interesting getting to meet the people who knew you as a child." Robin said

"Yeah, I can't wait to see everybody it's been less than four and a half years but it feels like so much longer than that."

"Well, a lot has happened in that short amount of time." Nami said

"Shishishi." Luffy laughed followed by his trademark smile.

The Straw Hats finished eating lunch and soon went back to their daily routines. The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Nami spent most of her time working on her maps while the rest of the crew screwed around.

The next day the Straw Hats were sailing when off in the horizon Zoro spotted an island.

"I see an island." He said from the crow's nest.

Luffy ran to the figure head of the ship and off in the distance he could just barely see the island he and his brothers called home. Sabo didn't live there as long Ace and Luffy but it was still home. Even if Sabo didn't particularly care for where he was born it was still the island where the three of them became brothers. He stood on the Sunny's head for a while. If it wasn't for the giant straw hat on the sail he would have tried to mess with the villagers. But he was known as Straw Hat Luffy and he had had the hat for a decade or so before he left the island. Two hours later the Straw Hats sailed into port. It was the same port Shanks had settled in for the year he called this sleepy little island home.

Franky dropped the paw anchors and Usopp dropped the rope ladder for those who would actually use it. Well Luffy didn't use the ladder and just jumped over the railing. He landed on the dock and started to look around. One by one the rest of the crew made their way down the ladder. The other members of the former monster trio jumped the railing and landed on the dock. With Franky bringing up the rear all of the Straw Hats were off the ship. They went to catch up with Luffy who was confused.

'Where is everyone?' Luffy thought to himself. "It's the middle of the morning."

"You could use your Haki to find everyone." Nami said

"Yeah, I could but that's no fun." Luffy said. Then he paused to think for a moment and said "You know, I think I know where they could be."

Luffy started walking further into town. He stopped in front of Partys Bar.

"Why did you stop here?" Sanji asked

"I was just thinking. I used to spend so much time here when I was little. This is where I met Shanks and ate my devil fruit."

"Seriously" Franky said "So this is where everything started." He continued.

"Who would have thought you would meet a Yonko, here of all places." Sanji said

Luffy ignoring all of the comments walked up to the doors and went inside. He was greeted with a few of the towns people inside. Makino was behind the counter with her back to the door. It was like nothing had changed in four years. The crew went to sit at a table while Luffy went and sat at the bar.

"You know, I can finally pay off my tab with the treasure I told you I would find." Luffy said

Hearing those words coming from a familiar voice Makino stopped to put down the glass that she was drying. She turned around to see a slightly more mature looking Luffy sitting at the bar. She saw the big X shaped scar on his chest. She didn't know exactly how he got the scar but she figured it had to have happened around the time of Ace's death. She had been so sad back then about what happened to Ace. Even after three plus years the pain of losing a little brother hadn't gone away completely and it still hurt knowing she would never see him again. But now she was happy to see the other young man whom she helped raise. He had matured so much in such a short time. She finally spoke up.

"Luffy, I am so glad you came back." Makino said

"Of course, I had to come back and visit."

"I am so happy to see you after so long. You know the whole village followed all of your adventures in the paper."

"Really, I'm glad to hear you guys were following what we were doing. I haven't even read the articles myself but the fact that you guys followed us all that time makes me happy. But you know what, I'm surprised we didn't get the same reaction Shanks got when he visited this island all those years ago."

"It's still early kind of early and you didn't make any noise sailing into port. I am sure the people will react soon enough. It's not very often we see pirate ships around here anymore."

"Even after grandpa retired from the Marines?"

"Not many people are crazy enough to even try picking a fight with him or do anything that might wreck this island."

Makino walked around from behind the bar and over to stand next to Luffy. "Can you introduce me to your friends Luffy?" Makino asked

"Of course." Luffy said as he got off the bar stool and walked back over to the table his friends were sitting at with Makino right behind him. "Makino these are my friends. Jinbe isn't isn't with us right now he is working on somethings back in the New World. The talking skeleton is Brook he is the musician on our ship. The robot is Franky our shipwright. Robin is our archeologist and historian. Chopper is the doctor on our ship. Sanji is our chef, Usopp our sharpshooter. This is Zoro the greatest swordsman in the world and this is Nami our navigator and my girlfriend."

"Guys this is Makino. She took care of me when I was little."

"It's very nice to finally meet you all. I hope Luffy hasn't caused you too much trouble." Makino said. After that she paused to think for a minute. She was going through what Luffy finished saying. And then it hit her.

"Luffy, you have a girlfriend?" Makino asked

"Yeah." Luffy said walking over to and sitting next to Nami.

Makino stood there for a few moments. She still couldn't believe what Luffy had said.

"Our little Luffy really is all grown up." Makino said. Some of the crew chuckled at the comment. They must have thought it was cute.

A moment later a few villagers walked into the bar. Almost immediately followed by a few more villagers who must have spent the night drinking the night before as they looked a little unsteady. One of the villagers turned to look at the people who were sitting at a table near the corner. The villager got a good look at the young man wearing the old straw hat.

"What is Luffy doing he…"

"Luffy." Another patron said

"LUFFY" All of the patrons who were in the bar already were finally awake enough to notice that the King of the Pirates was just sitting in their bar. They all got up and ran outside. They started yelling various things. The villagers went door to door down the main street yelling the same two things over and over.

"LUFFY IS HOME!"

"THE KING OF THE PIRATES HAS COME HOME!"

Soon enough the sleepy little village was lively. Not long after that the bar was packed and their were people crowding around the front door and looking in the windows. By now the crew had moved from the table to the counter of the bar where Nami and Zoro were already drinking. The more average size members were sitting on the stools while Franky was sitting in a custom chair he built for himself.

There was so much commotion as the people who lived farther away and out of the audible range of the villagers who were yelling earlier made their way to the bar to see what was going on. Luffy was just sitting there enjoying a drink. Soon enough people were asking to hear about Luffy's travels. Luffy obliged and began telling stories up to about the time he got to Usopp's home island. After that Usopp took over as Luffy was leaving out too many important details. Of course Luffy would interject from time to time but Usopp did most of the talking. This was one of those times.

"Hey, does anyone remember Shanks's crew?" He asked. Most just shrugged. Not many people actually interacted that much with Shanks and his crew. But there were also a few who did remember seeing the crew so many years ago. But how could you not remember such a famous Grand Line Pirate coming to an island in the East Blue.

"Well, our sniper Usopp, he's Yasopps son."

The number of people who actually got involved with the pirates was limited to begin with. They were never really on a first name basis with any of them.

"Really, don't you guys remember Shanks and his crew? Yasopp is the sniper of the Red haired pirates." There was an audible "Oh" that traveled around the room.

Usopp was disappointed to hear the reaction but continued with the story. Before he could say another word Makino spoke up.

"You know what? I think this will surprise you more than these stories amazing as they are. Their was one thing that surprised me the most when he introduced me to the crew." Makino said.

"What is that Makino-san?" one villager asked.

"Luffy has a girlfriend." The whole damn room went silent. Jaws hit the floor. None of the villagers knew what to say. There are two beautiful women on Luffy's crew. One of the villagers spoke up.

"Makino-san, you couldn't mean one of these lovely ladies. There is no way in hell Luffy has a chance with either of them. I can only imagine who would fall in love with Luffy."

Nami had gotten up and walked over to the man who was talking about her. There was a terrifying red glow in her eyes. Everyone had once again gone silent. Everyone except for the man who had just opened his big mouth. He stopped talking and gulped. He could feel the anger radiating off of the red head. In the end Nami hit him and left a large red bump on the man's head and a hole in the floor. From the reaction of the busty red head all of the villagers determined who the girlfriend is. They all now knew not to talk badly about her or they would end up just like their neighbor.

One of the villagers who wasn't as terrified did ask a question. "Luffy, why didn't you say anything to him."

"I have no response, I love my girlfriend." Luffy said gulping and fumbling to reach for his drink.

The rest of the villagers didn't need a real response. They could deduce on their own what would have happened to Luffy. He would have likely joined the man on the ground. Nami took a moment to cool down and relax.

"Sorry about the floor Makino-san" Nami said. "Earlier it sounded like my boyfriend here owes you some money for eating for free for what I could only assume was many years. 'Nami grabbed Luffy's cheek and stretched it.' We will pay for the damages and I will makes sure you get the money this idiot owes you with interest."

"Nami is willingly giving away money?" Usopp said "What did you do with the real Nami?" He asked as her red eyes had returned. Usopp shut the hell up before he joined the man on the floor. After Nami slammed back one drink, she grabbed the bottle and poured herself another to calm down.

They spent the next several hours talking, eating and drinking. The villagers were glad to see Luffy and all but after a certain point they had had enough of the stories. Usopp had only made it to the first time they made it to the Sabaody Archipelago. He told them of how they were beaten and were separated. Everyone had heard how the young rookie appeared with around 200 inmates from Impel Down. They had heard about Luffy's parentage and about the deaths of Ace and Whitebeard. But they didn't hear anything more about Luffy until a few weeks after Marineford. That was when Luffy was in the paper once again standing in silent prayer with a message for his friends. After that they didn't hear anything about the crew for two years. The first new piece of news they heard was that they had reunited at the Sabaody Archipelago and they were headed for the New World.

The villagers had spent a majority of the day just relaxing and enjoying getting to know the crew a little. Long after the sun had gone down most of the villagers called it a night. The pirates stayed and partied with some of the villagers. As the night drew on many of the villagers fell asleep. Eventually the rest called it a night and went home. The straw hats went back to the ship. Eventually the only ones who were left at the bar were Luffy and Makino.

"Thank you for everything Makino. And I am sorry for the mess. Just leave it for later. If you ask Sanji to help you clean I am sure he won't hesitate." Luffy said cracking a smile and laughing.

"I think I will take you up on that." Makino said "It's been great getting to see you again. Do you have any plans for the morning?"

"I think I am gonna go for a walk and visit Dadan."

"As much as she may try to hide it I think that she will be happy to see you."

"You might be right Makino. By the way where has the Mayor been I haven't seen him today?"

"Oh, he is looking after my son."

"Oh, he is looking after your son" Luffy said that but then he thought about the words that fell out of his mouth. "Makino, when did you have a baby?"

"Almost two years ago now."

"Wow. Congrats Makino."

"Thank you Luffy I appreciate it. But there is one thing that I've got to know."

"What is it Makino?"

"Was Ace happy before he died?"

Luffy didn't say anything. The brim of his hat covered his eyes but that didn't prevent Makino from seeing the tears fall from his eyes. "I think he was happy. Not that he was dying but happy that he found people who loved him and cared for him. You know we found the island where Ace and old man Whitebeard were buried. It's a real nice island. I just wish that we were able to go there under different circumstances."

"I'm sorry to bring up the past Luffy." Makino said "I had to know."

"It's alright, I would be surprised if you didn't ask."

"Thank you for telling me. See you in the morning."

"See you in the morning" Luffy said

Luffy got up and walked out of the bar and walked back to the Sunny. Makino closed up, went to the Mayors house to get her son and went home for the night. When he got back to the Sunny he saw that the crew was still partying. Several hours later the crew called it a night and they managed to get back to their rooms.

Mid morning the next day the crew stumbled out of bed and one by one they made their way outside. Sanji was first followed by Usopp, Franky, Chopper and Brook.

"Where the hell are the Luffy and the Marimo?"

"Don't know did they ever go to bed?" Usopp asked

It was then that Nami and Luffy made their way out on to the deck coming from the aquarium room. Zoro and Robin walked out of the girls room.

"Not you too Robin-chan?" Sanji asked.

"It's true Sanji-san. Zoro and I have been together for some time now."

Sanji was devastated. Both Nami-swan and Robin-chawn are in relationships.

"Don't look so upset Sanji-san. I don't know what you did but you managed to make an impression on Viola back during your time with her on Dressrosa."

"Oh, Viola-chan." Sanji said going into full love cook mode

"That is brilliant." Zoro said

"What are you going to do today Luffy" Nami asked.

"I am going to go visit the people who looked after me when I was little."

"I thought that was Makino-san" Robin said

"Well, Makino did look after me while I lived in the village. Then sometime after Shanks left, Grandpa took me to live in the forest with some mountain bandits. I didn't stay there too long before Ace and I moved out. We lived together with Sabo in a treehouse we built from junk from we found in Gray Terminal." Luffy said matter of factly.

The Straw Hats were speechless. Their mouths were down on the floor. It was a little while before they could form complete thoughts.

"Wow, just wow. You said it would be more interesting. I guess you were right." Sanji said

"Garp made you live with mountain bandits?" Nami asked "How old were you?"

"I was seven."

"Why would he let his grandson live with mountain bandits?"

"He wanted to make me a strong Marine."

Hearing that everyone's mouths just dropped open wide again.

"What made him think that would be a good idea?"

Luffy just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well that crazy old man aside. I've been thinking Franky." Nami said

"Oh boy this can't be good." Usopp said

"What's up Nami?" Franky asked

"I was thinking. Now that Luffy and I as well as Robin and Zoro are in relationships would it be too much trouble to divided the girls room in two?"

Hearing the idea of splitting the girls room in half he knew they were serious about their relationships. Meanwhile Franky was thinking about a few things for a moment before he opened his big mouth. "Yeah, that's no problem at all. I have been meaning to do some work around the Sunny anyway."

"Need some help Franky?" Usopp asked

Franky nodded, he opened the hatch to the soldier dock system in the lawn deck and went down below deck. Usopp followed him and they started to talk and figure out what they were going to need. The rest of the crew went about their business.

"We have some business to take care of." Nami said to Luffy. They went down below deck and walked down the hallway to the store room. Once inside Nami walked over to the safe, opened it, grabbed 10,000,000 beri and put inside a small case. The pair proceeded to go upstairs onto the deck and walk back to the bar. When they got there they saw Sanji clean up after the crazy night.

"You headed here first Sanji-kun?" Nami asked

"Of course, I could let Makino-san clean up our mess."

Makino walked into the bar from the back room and noticed Nami and Luffy.

"Good morning Makino-san" Nami said

"Morning Makino." Luffy said

"Good morning Nami, Luffy" Makino replied as they walked over to the bar. Nami and Luffy proceeded to sit at the bar.

"So yesterday this idiot said something about owing you money from over a decade ago?" Nami asked

"Well, yes. Luffy did say that yesterday. When he was little he said when he had treasure he would pay me back all the money he owed. But I nev…" Makino stopped as Nami put a case on the counter.

"Open it" she said.

Makino opened the case and was shocked to see what was inside. There were 20 banded stacks of beri. Each stack was made of 50 bills. Each bill was 10,000 beri. She was speechless as she reached over and picked up a stack of money. She held one end in her hand and ran her thumb over the other. She put it down on the counter and looked up at Nami and Luffy.

"Tha…nk…you" she stuttered as she struggled to get the words out. "How much is…?"

"10 million." Nami said

Hearing that Makino stumbled back and passed out. But before she could fall over and hurt herself Sanji caught her. He laid her down on the floor. A few minutes later she got up. Nami, Luffy and Sanji were standing around her making sure she was ok.

"I could've sworn you said 10 million."

"I did say that."

"I can't accept this." Makino said

"Of course you can." Luffy said. "I always keep my promises."

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. You can do whatever you want with the money. Spend it, save it. It's yours to do with as you please." Nami said

Makino walked around the bar and over to Luffy and Nami. She wrapped her arms around them and gave them a big hug. While they were hugging Makino started crying. Nami patted her back as the tears of joy fell down her face. They stayed like that for a little while and eventually Makino let go.

"Thank you both so very much."

"Anything for family" Luffy said. "Speaking of, I still have to go visit Dadan." He said as he walked to the door before he turned around. "Nami do you want to come with me?"

"I'd better not. I will stay here with Makino-san and Sanji. I think I would hurt the bandits you lived with all those years ago."

"Yeah, yeah, I think you would." Luffy said as he walked out the door.

Some time later after he had effortlessly made his way through the jungle he found "house" he lived in for a few months. He knocked on the door and no one answered so he let himself in. It was dark inside but he could sense people all around him. The bandits not knowing who had just walked in began attacking. However the intruder evaded every attack that they could throw at him.

"You guys will never be able to hit me.

The bandits kept trying but they failed spectacularly.

"Seriously, I can do this all day. But Dogra, Magra turn on the damn lights."

Hearing those names the bandits stopped. Someone turned on the lights and soon enough everyone realized who it was they were up against.

"Luffy" they yelled.

Magra walked over to Luffy and gave him a big hug.

"It's so good to see you again." Magra said

"It's been so long kid." Dogra said

"It's only been a few years."

With that Luffy, Dogra, Magra and the bandits sat down and began talking. Soon enough they were listening to Luffys stories and laughing. It was if no time had passed. Luffy may not have liked the mountain bandits a few years ago. But they really weren't so bad. From outside a certain large orange haired woman could hear laughing from inside her home. She wasn't sure what their was to laugh about but just hearing it outside it must have been good. The large woman walked up to the door and opened it. What she saw when she opened the door surprised her. She saw a red cardigan but what stood out to her was the straw hat on the young mans head. The young man turned around and looked at her with a big smile on his face.

"It's been a while Dadan."

"You little shit."

"Hey, what did I do?"

"Make us worry."

"I guess Makino was right. You try to hide it but you do care."

Dadan was dumbfounded by this because it really was true. After Ace was killed in Marineford Dadan unknowingly to Luffy was truly worried about him and his mental state. He had looked up to Ace for so long and for him to not be here anymore. She knew he would be in pain. She could only hope that he would have the strength to overcome something so terrible. Not hearing anything about the Straw Hats for two years worried her. But when she saw the newspaper talking about their return and the smile on Luffy's face she knew everything was at the very least ok.

"I don't know what would give you that idea." Dadan said looking the other way.

"Come sit down Boss, Luffy was telling us about some of his adventures." Dogra said

"Fine" Dadan said as she walked over to her seat between Dogra and Magra and sat down.

"So where were we?" Dogra asked

"So my crew had just been swallowed by a whale. When I finally made my way inside I found a bunch of tunnels…" Luffy paused their looks were ones of bullshit there is no way that's true. "I swear it really is true. There are even massive doors in his side that lead to the outside." Luffy continued talking for a while. He would talk about one thing then go to something completely different and miss important details. But their was enough for them to get an idea of what Luffy was talking about. Eventually Luffy stopped talking all together. "Sorry guys there is one other thing I have to do while I am here." Luffy got up and walked out the door. The bandits were left to talk amongst themselves.

"Do you believe that? An island in the sky?" One bandit said

"How about an island of giants?" A second said

"What about a ship where a Shichibukai and a Doctor brought the dead back to life." A third said

"True or not the Grand Line sounds like a wondrous place. It doesn't sound nearly as bad as all of the other rumors we've heard about it." A fourth said

"Don't go getting any grand ideas. The sea is no place for mountain bandits." Dadan said

While this was going on Luffy made his way to the tree house the three brothers built as children. Back in town the other four Straw Hats made their way to back to the bar. Soon after followed by villagers who wanted to hear more grand tales of the the Straw Hats. Meanwhile Franky and Usopp were working hard on the renovations to the Sunny.

Back with Luffy. "It's doesn't look too bad after a few years." Luffy sat down on the ground and looked up at what they had built and remembered all the fun times they had.

Luffy sat there until around 7pm as the forest was getting dark and the sun setting. But then he remembered a place that would be great to watch this sunset. But before he went their he had to make one stop. So with a combination of Gear Second and Soru he disappeared down the mountain and in no time at all he appeared outside the bar. Everyone was having a grand time drinking away. Franky and Usopp were at the bar. Apparently they had been there for a little while. Luffy walked in and everyone stopped what they were doing.

"Hey don't stop partying I came back down to grab someone." Luffy said as he walked over toward Nami. "There is something I want to show you." He said

"Yeah, ok." She said as she got up out of her seat and the pair walked to the door.

Once they were outside Luffy picked her up like a princess and disappeared. Some of the villagers saw the whole thing happen. At first they were cheering for Luffy but the next second they were left staring at where he had just been. They had no idea what the hell just happened one thing they were certain of was that Nami wasn't going to be happy.

Not long after Luffy disappeared he suddenly appeared at a cliff over-looking the ocean.

When Luffy put Nami down she put him down, down right into the ground.

"What was that for Nami?"

"That was for showing up and just taking off. My body can't take the same abuse yours seems to take whenever you do that."

"Sorry about that. I just wanted to show you this." He said still rubbing the large bump on his head.

"It's the sunset. We see it all the time on the ship."

"It's not just the sunset. It's more so this place." Luffy said as he sat down

"What do you mean?"

"This cliff is where Ace, Sabo and I decided we would become pirates and see the world. And in the forest back there is a stump where Ace poured cups of sake for us. We vowed that no matter where we are or what happens to us we will always be brothers." Luffy said with a few tears running down his cheeks.

Nami sat down next to him and placed her head on his shoulder. "So you didn't bring me up here just because there was a nice view of the sunset."

"Nope, this place is very special to me. It holds a lot of memories that my brothers and I formed here. Those memories will always have a special place in my heart but now I want to make some new memories with someone who is just as important to me but in a different way."

"Are you sure, this place holds so much of your past."

"But that is exactly why I wanted to bring you here. It's been over a decade since that happened. Ace and I grew up believing Sabo had died after what happened to him. Eventually Ace set out on his own to find his way in the world and I was left alone again. But I had to stay strong for my brothers whether they were alive or dead. Who would have figured Sabo survived and Ace would've been the one to die. I don't know if Ace ever found out if Sabo was alive or not. I would assume he never did find out. If he did that would've likely been the first thing he told me when I saw him for the first time in three years in Alabasta."

"What happened to Sabo?" Nami asked. She figured she would get as much info out of him as she could. As long as she knew him he never really talked about his past or cared about anyone else's for that matter.

"When we were little a Tenryuubito came to visit the king. Sabo had set sail to run away from home and get as far away from his parents as he could. I guess as Sabo was trying to leave the island the damn Tenryuubito decided for whatever reason they wouldn't allow another ship to be in its presence. So the bastard blew up Sabo's boat."

Nami couldn't say anything. She had her hand over her mouth she was so surprised but more so disgusted. They had seen how awful the Tennryubito were back on Sabaody.

When she finally did move her hand she started talking "That's horrible." She said "To blow up a boat for no good reason and to kill a child on a whim."

"Do you get why I punched that stupid bastard back on Sabaody?"

"I thought it was because he shot Hachi."

"Well that's part of it. But I just couldn't not do anything when the person who hurt my friend was right in front of me. When Sabo was hurt their was nothing I could do. I wasn't going to let the person who shot Hachi get away even if it was a Tenryuubito."

They didn't say anything after that. They just sat there next to each other and watched the sun go down go down below the horizon. Once the sun had finally set the pair stood up.

"You ready to go back down the mountain?"

"Yes, but lets just walk down."

"But that will take so long."

"Fine. Just don't go too fast." Luffy picked her up like a princess one more time and disappeared. Down the mountain they went. He didn't go nearly as fast as he did going up the mountain. He stopped at the bandits hideout and set Nami down.

"One thing before we go back."

"Is this where you lived when you were little?"

"Yeah, for a couple of months I think."

"That stupid old man."

"What about a stupid old man?" Hearing that Nami froze

"Grandpa, what are you doing here?" Luffy said as Garp grabbed him and put him in a headlock.

"What do you mean, I was in the area and wanted to see some old friends. Imagine my surprise when I see your ship docked in the harbor."

"You better not have touched Sunny." Luffy said

"Oh, relax. I'm not interested in catching pirates as much anymore. Especially my grandson even if you did become King of the pirates. And like I told you I was in the area. I was at a base not far from here whipping some new recruits into shape." Garp said letting Luffy out of his grasp.

"You mean like you did for Coby and Helmetto." Luffy said sure of himself

"Close enough, but yeah just like them. But who do we have here? I was so preoccupied with you I almost forgot there was someone else here and if i'm not mistaken it's Nami the cat burglar."

Nami stood there. He was still as imposing as ever.

"Come on say something. I already told you I'm not interested in catching you. Nor do I care what you are doing here."

"We were watching the sunset."

"Well that's sort of romantic."

A couple of moments passed before things fell into place. "Wait a minute? Your not…he's not. You two aren't in a relationship are you?"

Nothing came out of the mouths of Nami or Luffy. They just looked at each other then back to Garp. They could have just been honest and told the truth but the words weren't coming out of either of their mouths.

"You are aren't you." Garp said before he picked Nami up and gave her a bear hug. "Welcome to the family." He said. This confused both of them. After a few moments Garp put Nami down. "It's an impressive feat. This idiot has such a thick skull. For you to get anything even remotely romantic to sink into his head is commendable. I didn't think he had a romantic bone in his body. Well aside from one..sort of."

"Grandpa." Luffy yelled

Nami just blushed.

"Well that answers my next question. But that aside, what were you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say bye to Dadan and the guys."

"Well, I will leave you to it." Garp said before walking away.

"I didn't expect to see him here." Nami said

"Neither did I. I had no idea he was in the East Blue. I thought he would be on the Grand Line or in the New World."

"Well he's here. Let's just hope we don't have a repeat of Water Seven."

"What happened again?"

Nami hit him over the head. "Do you really not remember? We made it back from Enies Lobby. He just shows up one day, tells us your dads name and leaves. He said he would leave us alone. But he ended up chasing us until we managed to escape."

"Oh yeah, that was fun. It was the first time we used the Coup de Burst." Luffy said as he walked into the bandits hideout.

From outside Nami could hear "Luffy's back"

Inside the hideout. "I just wanted to see you guys before we leave in the morning."

"One more story." The bandits pleaded acting like children. 

Luffy thought for a few moments but nothing came to mind. That was when Nami walked in. The room went from crazy with the bandits pestering Luffy to dead silent in a matter of seconds. Dadan had never seen this happen before. Then she saw the cause of the silence. Nami walked over to Luffy, sat down next to him and kissed him on the cheek. The bandits were all so jealous.

"Luffy you could tell them about Fishman Island."

"Oh, that's a great idea Nami. Can't believe I forgot about that."

"Don't get any ideas boys." Dadan said. "I overheard your conversation with Garp."

"Oh, great." Luffy said

"Go ahead with the story. Try anything sleazy and I will beat whoever tries to a pulp. Or the Pirate King here might put you out of your misery for touching his girl."

"Personally I would be more worried about what Nami might do to them. She already put a guys head through the floor in Makino's bar."

Hearing that all of the bandits went strangely calm. So Luffy started talking and Nami would interject from time to time to correct him. Dadan was listening to the story but at the same time she was looking around the room. Her men had never been this well behaved and they probably never would again. By the end of the story the bandits could see Nami's expression had changed. She was furious that they had to give away so much money to a Yonko who Luffy picked a fight with. But she couldn't be too upset. She had been put in charge of the gold and jewels that they found on Raftel and that more than made up for the money they lost that day.

"That good for now? The next time we come by I am sure we will have even more stories to tell. Right Nami."

"Yeah, we should. We have to travel the entire East Blue and the other three Blues. We only traveled one of seven routes in the Grand Line and one of a few in the New World."

Luffy and Nami got up and headed for the door. "Until next time. Don't get in too much trouble with Gramps." When they were out the door Luffy picked Nami up and they disappeared into the night. A few minutes later they were back at the bar. It sounded pretty rowdy from outside so they went inside to see what was going on. The pair were shocked to see Garp drinking and having a grand time.

"Oi, the King and Queen are back. Come have a drink." Garp said

Nami couldn't pass up the opportunity. So she went over and started drinking. Luffy followed her to the bar and had a few drinks of his own. Makino had disappeared for a while to look after her son. While she was gone she left Sanji in charge. Sanji was more than happy to work in the kitchen where he prepared dishes of spectacular food. Nami had gotten behind the bar and started pouring drinks. Once her son had been put to bed for the night Makino came back to see how her business had faired. The party ended early that night. The bar had been completely cleaned out of food and liquor.

"What happened here?" Makino asked

"Sorry Makino-san. Nami-san, the Marimo and Garp had a drinking contest. They drank the other contestants under the table." Looking around Makino could see there were contestants passed out all over place. Makino walked into the kitchen and it was spotless.

"You cleaned the kitchen?"

"Of course. I can't leave someone else's kitchen a mess."

"Thank you Sanji."

"Your very welcome Makino-san. Can I help with anything else?" Sanji asked.

"No, thank you. I can handle the rest tomorrow."

"Alright, goodnight Makino-san." Sanji said as he walked to the door.

"Goodnight"

Sanji made his way back to the ship. The rest of the crew was there. Brook, Usopp, Chopper and Franky had already gone to their room for the night. Before Luffy and Zoro went to the guys room for the night the shared a short kiss with their respective partner. Anything more and their may have been clothes all over the deck. They said their goodnights and the guys went to their room for what would likely be one of the last times before they moved in with their respective lady. When Sanji made it back he went to the Sunny he was surprised to see Zoro and Luffy in their bunks. He just shrugged it off and went to bed promptly falling asleep.

In the girls room Nami and Robin were getting ready for bed.

"Isn't this weird." Nami said

"I still can't believe it honestly."

"I know, right. We have shared a room for years… and now…things are changing."

"Yes, yes they are. Who would have thought we would have fallen for who we did. I never expected to fall for Zoro."

"And I never expected to fall for Luffy. But I did and it has been great."

"Nami-san I have a question for you. I hope this isn't too personal."

"What is it Robin?"

"How has Luffy's qualities affected your sex life… your love making?"

Nami blushed.

"Sorry, too personal?"

"A little bit but I don't mind. Honestly we haven't done too much with his powers yet. They should make things interesting to say the least." Nami said with a twisted horny look on her face but soon went back to normal. "Ok, you got something out of me. Now it's my turn."

"Alright, what do you want to know."

"How does the sleepy swordsman you know?"

"Are you asking if Zoro is good in bed?"

"Well, kind of. I mean he is always sleeping on deck."

"Let's just say all of the naps he takes during the day are put to good use at night. We are both night owls after all."

"Oh…wow. I can only imagine."

"Do you remember the day about two and a half months ago I was up in the library all day."

"Don't tell me."

"That's correct. I don't think I could have made my way out of that room. I know it's a little late but I'm sorry. I think we used your desk more than a few times over these past few months."

"Robin…" Nami said surprised. "Just kidding. I'm not sure how many times we've had sex on that table."

"Alright, one rule." Robin said

"What's that?"

"We don't talk about the where but we can talk about the actual deed."

"Sounds fair to me."

By now the girls had finished getting ready and were settling into bed.

"Goodnight" They each said before they fell asleep.

The next morning as the crew made their way outside. They could finally get a good look at the work Franky and Usopp completed the day before. Of course thanks to Franky's skills as a shipwright it looked as if there hadn't been any changes made at all. Everything looked like it had been there from the day it was built.

"This looks amazing you guys." Nami said

"We had to make it look original." Franky said "Moving the stairs over was tricky and I won't bore you with the details but it looks SUPER." He said striking his pose

An hour later the Straw Hats were preparing the ship to set sail.

"Alright guys, it's time to head out." Luffy said

As they were getting ready to leave a crowd of people had gathered and were standing on the pier and the land next to it.

"Taking off already?" Garp asked

"Of course." Luffy said standing on the figurehead

"Don't be a stranger. Come back any time." Makino said

"Don't come back! You're a disgrace to this village." Woop Slap said through half a grin. With that the Straw Hats used the chicken voyage to back out of the port. Once they were far enough back Franky turned the wheel hard to starboard, lowered the sails and theStraw Hats sailed away. While they were sailing away Luffy had made his way to the back of the ship behind the kitchen. He was waving to the villagers who had watched him grow up. He would likely not see them again for quite a few years. Eventually the Sunny was out of sight. The people who had gathered went their separate ways to do their own thing and go about their business. Only a few stayed behind.

"You know, now that I think back it hasn't been that lively here since Shanks and his crew showed up here more than a decade ago." One villager said 

"Yeah, and it won't be that lively again for some time." Another said

"Are you sure you didn't want to spend more time with Luffy?" Makino asked Woop Slap.

"No, I saw enough of him. He certainly looks happy. He also fulfilled his dream after all. We may not see Luffy every day like when he was little but I am certain we will be seeing his face for years to come in the paper doing one thing or another."

"You almost seem happy to see him."

"Don't be ridiculous Garp. That aside, how can you stand there knowing what your grandson has accomplished?" 

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with Luffy's choice to become a pirate. But I am happy to see him smiling and having fun. Aside from the stunts his crew pulls they are some of the more harmless pirates out there. They are nothing like some of the candidates to take the places of the previous generation of Yonko."

"Are you taking about Captain Kid?"

"Yes I am. He has been working to gather as much territory as he can. But he has so much competition from other pirates."

"You know, it has only been a little bit more than two months since the news of a second pirate king traveled around the world. I am surprised Luffy would leave the New World just as things were changing." 

"I think that's exactly why they left when they did. If they didn't they would have likely been caught up in all of the battles for territory that have been taking place. They might have seen this as their only opportunity to visit home before things spiral out of control. But whenever they do go back they are sure to have some competition waiting for them. If Kid, Law, Drake and some of the other big names knew what was good for them they would take advantage of their absence."

"But isn't that exactly why Luffy wanted to be the Pirate King?"

"You might be right. Roger was able to go wherever and do whatever he wanted. It is likely the same for Luffy. He doesn't particularly care about having territories. Well aside from Fishman Island. They did use Whitebeards flag until he died, then they turned to Big Mom for protection. Now Luffy's symbol is all over the island. You know, now that I think about it Jinbe wasn't with them was he?"

"Why do think he wasn't with them?"

"Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. But it must be pretty important if he didn't come with the rest of his crew to the East Blue."


	4. Jinbe and Shimotsuki Village

A few hours had passed since the Straw Hats sailed away from Dawn Island. They were relaxing on the grass deck for the time being. They were sailing along enjoying the calm waters of the East Blue. For Nami this was no problem to navigate considering how crazy the New World was.

"It was nice getting to meet people who knew you as a child Luffy-san." Brook said

"I'm glad you guys got to meet Makino."

"It was nice getting to hear stories about your childhood Luffy." Nami said "Even as a little boy you were causing trouble."

"That sounds right."

"Luffy's past aside whose island are we heading to next?"

"I think we should to your home island Zoro."

"That's fine with me. I don't have many people I want to see back in Shimotsuki Village."

"Well it sounds like we have a plan. Set a course for Zoro's home island."

"Robin, you and I have something we need to discuss."

"What would that be Nami?"

"We have to decide who gets which room."

"You know, there shouldn't be much to even discuss. The rooms are going to pretty much be the same size." Franky said

"Even if that's true, we will still need to decide how we split up the stuff we shared until we can buy new furniture."

"I agree, and we get to design our rooms to better fit our own personal tastes. I don't think the boys will care about the changes that we make."

Nami and Robin looked to Luffy and Zoro. Zoro was already drinking and Luffy was playing cards with Usopp and Chopper.

"Yeah they won't care." Nami said

"Don't make it too girly." Luffy said Zoro nodded agreeing in between sips of sake

"Oh, so you were listening." Nami said getting frustrated at her boyfriend/ lover. But Nami took a deep breath and thought to herself. Luffy would certainly not be patient enough to pick out furniture. He was no problem when he would tag along with her and go explore an island to take measurements for a map. He would have likely gone exploring anyway but it's nice to have company. But she would still rarely take him shopping. That was still something for the girls to do for some time away from the guys.

"Fine, you won't have to go shopping for furniture."

"You know Usopp and I can build you furniture."

"Thank you Franky. I am sure Robin would agree with me that we would appreciate it. But I kind of want to pick out standard furniture…" Nami stopped talking all together. "So what do you need to build two sets of bedroom furniture?"

"You two work with Usopp on the designs and I will come up with a list based off of those designs."

"Work with Usopp on what?" Usopp asked clearly having not been paying even a little bit of attention.

"You're going to work with the girls to create the furniture for their rooms."

"Oh great, thanks for including me in this little project of yours."

Several painful hours later Usopp was done working with Nami and Robin. They sailed on for a few hours before they found an island with a large forest and plenty of stores to buy supplies. An hour later with Chopper and Zoro's help Franky had enough lumber to make enough furniture for the ladies rooms. Franky sent Usopp and Luffy to town with a list of things to buy. Franky and the guys made it back to the Sunny with the lumber. Around the same time Usopp and Luffy made it back with the hardware and other supplies. They got to work and spent four hours adding sound proofing, a new wall and building all of the furniture. They had finished up most of the work and were able to take a break for dinner. Once they were done eating they went back and finished up the final touches. Another half hour later Franky and Usopp were all done.

"The furniture is all done." Franky said

"That was slow by your standards Franky." Nami said

"Yeah, that's true but I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. I didn't want you to hit me."

Nami clenched her fist as her face contorted in anger. Instead of going to hit him anyway she took a deep breath and relaxed.

"I'm going to ignore that for now. I am more interested to see what you two came up with."

"Alright then, Robin and Zoro's room first."

They walked up the staircase on the right side and took a right, which for all intents and purposes was the original entrance to the girl's room. Robin was the first to walk into the room. She was speechless when she saw all of the beautiful hand carved woodwork. She walked around the smaller room and was amazed. Franky, Usopp and Nami left Robin to look around the room while they went to see Nami and Luffy's room.

When Nami opened her door she had a similar response to Robin. 'Spending all of those hours with Usopp was worth it.' She thought as she looked around. When Franky saw the expression on her face it was then that he knew she was happy. It was all Franky needed to see before he motioned for Usopp to follow him out of the room.

"You know you guys should go look around your new rooms." Franky said walking down the stairs.

"As long as Nami is happy that is all that matters right now."

"Same for me." Zoro said

"You guys have grown so much in such a short amount of time. But at the same time in the years that I've known you I am startled by how little you have changed in some aspects and how much you have changed in others."

"I was bound to change and grow up a little eventually. I completed the goal I had when I set out to sea. I didn't necessarily have to find a new one. But I did. Instead of working towards a title I found someone I wanted to get better for. I accomplished my original goal in under five years. This certainly isn't something that will take just a few years to accomplish. Getting better for myself and the person I care about is something that will take a lifetime to complete. I am sure there will be plenty of other journeys that branch off from this one." Luffy said "I can only guess but I think Zoro might possibly feel the same."

Nami and Robin had walked out of their respective rooms to hear Luffy say that.

"You know for you, that is one of the most romantic things I have ever heard you say."

"Really, you know I only say what's on my mind so…"

Nami walked over to him and kissed him for a moment before they separated.

"You should stop before you ruin it." Nami said "We have a wonderful new room we are going to be sharing from now on. I am sure you can think of some things we can do in there." Nami said with a mischievous smirk.

"You didn't happen to…?" Brook asked

"Add sound proofing in all the walls, ceilings and floors of their rooms?" Franky interrupted. "That's right. Of course we did. Nami gave us quite the budget to make the necessary improvements to the rooms. But even with a sizable budget we still had to cut down so many trees to make the furniture. We had to fill all the walls with the soundproofing and it's expensive. Especially considering the amount we put in those walls."

"I will take your word for it Franky-san." Brook said

"Yeah, I don't want to have to be woken up in the middle of the night by all of the moaning." Usopp said

"What are you talking about?" Nami asked

"I can't think of a time we haven't been able to hear you going at it."

"Are you talking about them mating?" Chopper asked innocently enough

"Chopper, don't talk about it like that!" Usopp said

"What else do you want me to call it. Isn't that what they are doing?"

"Yes…I guess…but I don't want you to call it anything. I am just going to try and forget all of that happened. I suggest you do the same. I can't wait to get a good nights sleep on a consistent basis. That stuff better be worth it."

"Was…it….were…we?"

"YES." Brook, Franky, Usopp, Chopper and Sanji all yelled

"It was really bad when you did it in the girls room." Usopp said "None of you are innocent. And that's the last I want to talk about it."

"I didn't think we were that loud." Luffy said

"Shut the hell up you bastard." Sanji said "I'm happy that Nami-san and Robin-chan are happy but to know that you two…no all four of you have been doing that. I'm just speechless. I just want to lock those bad memories away forever."

"Good idea. Lock those memories away and shut the hell up. I don't want to discuss this anymore." Usopp said

That was the end of that conversation. The other five guys went to do their own thing. Sanji went to the kitchen. Chopper went to the library to go read. Brook went to go play his violin on top of the deck above the kitchen . Franky and Usopp disappeared below deck to go and work on projects in their workshops. Nami, Luffy, Robin and Zoro were left out on the grass deck after the other five members of the crew went in.

"I wonder why no one ever said anything about us being too loud?" Nami asked

"Would you want your friend telling you that you were making too much noise while you were having sex?" Robin asked

"I guess not."

"No, I certainly wouldn't mention it the next day."

"Yeah, it might not be a fun subject to bring up."

"It should be interesting to see just how soundproof our new rooms are. Would you like to test that out Nami?"

"Woo, I was waiting for you to say something."

"Why would you wait for me to ask? If you want it just tell me. I am always willing to go a few rounds." Luffy said

That made Nami blush. Just thinking about what Luffy would do to her in their "new" room. It was really getting her wet. Nami grabbed Luffy's hand and was about to drag him to the bedroom when the Den-Den Mushi started ringing.

"Sorry, I really need to answer that." Luffy said before he ran into the kitchen.

"Is anyone else confused?" Nami asked. But she was more confused as to what would be more important than their sexual activities. "Is there something going on that we can't know about?"

"I don't think that is the case Nami-san." Robin said

"Then what the hell is going on?"

"Why don't you just ask. I am sure he would tell you. I mean Jinbe has been gone for quite some time now. I bet he is involved in whatever is going on." Zoro said

"Spending time with Robin has really been paying off." Nami said giggling

"Oi, that's not funny."

"No, it is funny. You are right. Jinbe did up and vanish one day after he talked to Luffy."

"I know what Jinbe has been up to." Robin said

"What!" Nami and Zoro said.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Nami asked

"Nobody ever asked. I figured you all knew why Jinbe left."

"No, I had no idea." Nami said

"So are you going to tell us?" Zoro asked

"Wait for Luffy to tell you. He can't hide it anymore."

"Come on…please tell us…" Nami said

As that conversation was going on outside Luffy answered the Den-Den Mushi.

"Hello this is Monkey D. Luffy Pirate King." He said after he picked up the receiver.

"Luffy-kun you really have to stop answering like that."

"Why? It's just so much fun."

"If you say so." Jinbe said a little annoyed at his captains antics

"How is it going there?"

"It's absolute madness but at the same time it's seems so organized. Robin, Zoro, Usopp and Franky told me about these guys. They told me about how they wanted you to become the boss of the Straw Hat Fleet and you refused. I was a little surprised but then they told me why and it made sense. Hearing what you said to them about staying free and doing as they pleased. It made sense. Even thought you wanted to be the pirate king you never wanted to rule over anyone. All you wanted was to be free. They understood that but made you their boss anyway. When I found out the names of some of the leaders of these crews I was dumbfounded. Some of them were completely different in the past. You have quite the impact on people. After only spending a day with you fighting against the Donquixote Family they changed so drastically."

"You know me Jinbe. I've always wanted to be able to do what I what when I want. Now I have that opportunity, why not make the best of it."

"You have been that way for as long as I've known you. Back to business. The reason I am calling is to let you know that we have found an island that we can use. It should fit all of our needs rather well."

"Did it hit the few that were very important?"

"Yes it did."

"That's great. Anything else I need to know?"

"Not really, we have a majority of it covered here. It's going to take some time but everything is coming along at a steady pace."

"Glad to hear."

"You know, I'm curious about something. Now that I think about it what happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, neither the Luffy I met in Impel Down nor the Luffy I saw on Fishman Island would've had the patience for something like this."

"Oh, I completely agree. But times change and so do we."

"You have been spending too much time with Nami & Robin. They have crammed so much into that thick skull of yours. It really is incredible."

"Shishishi, yeah they really have."

"Alright, I will contact you guys in the next couple of weeks with an update."

"Thank you Jinbe. I really do appreciate it."

"Don't mention it. Talk to you soon." The line went dead as Jinbe hung up the receiver of the Den Den Mushi that was quite literally on the other side of the planet. Luffy hung up his receiver and walked out the door.

Nami, Zoro and Robin were sitting on the grass deck talking as Luffy made his way down the stairs. He walked over to them and sat down next Nami.

"So Luffy, would you tell us what you are being so secretive about?" Nami asked almost demanding to know.

"Alright, I guess I can tell you. But first I want everyone to come out here."

"USOPP, FRANKY, BROOK, SANJI, CHOPPER." Nami yelled. "GET OUT HERE."

It wasn't long before the commotion caused by the other five members of the crew was heard as they came running through the ship after they heard the Pirate Queen yell. Zoro thought witch was still more accurate but she was Luffy's pirate queen. She could still be as threatening as ever, maybe even more so now.

"What's up Nami?" Franky asked

"Just sit down guys. Luffy has something he wants to tell us about."

"I swear to god if you cheated on Nami-san I am going to kill you. Pirate King or not."

"Relax Sanji, I would never do anything to hurt Nami. NOW, sit down and I will tell you what I have been working on." Sanji did as he was told. Zoro couldn't help but laugh at the cook.

"Before you start Luffy. We do know one thing. We know that Jinbe is involved." Usopp said

"Well that makes sense. He left Raftel a few days before us." Franky said

"It was supposed to be a surprise do you still want me to tell you."

"YES" They all yelled.

"Alright, fine with me. So while we were on Raftel we got a call from Bartolomeo, Hajrudin, Cabbage and the others. They told us that they found a large uninhabited island. They told us about the island and gave us a general idea of where it was. So we told them to hang there for a while. Jinbe, Robin and I were the only ones on the ship at the time. You guys were off enjoying the island. So we worked to come up with a list of things we would need to set up a base of operations. Jinbe volunteered to go and check out the island. So around the time we were making our way up into the East Blue through the Calm Belt we get a call from Jinbe. He said that he met up with the others and they had already begun working."

The other Straw Hats aside from Robin were interested to say the very least.

"So what you're saying is that by the time we get back to the New World we are going to have a stronghold similar to what Kidd has?" Sanji asked

"Yeah, something like that. Jinbe is working on the specifics."

"I'm not so sure." Nami said

"Well I forgot to mention the best part."

"What is that?" Nami asked

"Not very far from the island the guys are working on now is another island. It's smaller but would be specifically for the ten of us."

"You mean we would have our own private island?" Nami asked getting excited "Ok, I'm on board."

"I didn't know there was another island close by. But thinking about it, it would be nice to have an island all to ourselves." Robin added

"If they leave the island as it is now and let me do with it what I want we will have a five star resort on the island."

"I'm on board." Usopp added. "Oh, I have so many ideas."

"According to Jinbe it's going to be rough for a little while but once we take care of basic necessities it will suit our needs. Apparently there are white sand beaches all over the island. It is also just a day's sail away from one of nicer islands in the New World with plenty of shopping and things to do."

"I'm sold." Nami said

"What do you guys think?"

"It isn't a bad thing to have our own sanctuary." Sanji said. But he was thinking things. 'Imagine all the ladies I can impress if I tell them I have my own island.' They all knew the face he was making meant that he was thinking perverted things.

"As long as it's quite and I have plenty of space to train." Zoro added

"I can grow even more herbs for more medicine."

"I can grow as many pop greens as I want. I will even have room to experiment."

"As long as I have some place to play music I am fine." Brook added.

"So, does that mean you guys like the idea?"

"Sounds like everyone has already come up with some sort of plan for what they want to do with their own part of the island." Robin said

"Okay, now that that is settled everyone can go about their business."

The guys got up and went to do their own thing. Luffy and Zoro had started to head to their respective rooms. But they were stopped in their tracks.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Nami asked

"To my room." Zoro said

"No, no your not. Not smelling like that you're not."

"I have to agree with Nami-san on this. It's nice having you two clean. I know you never really used to and probably still don't care about your stench but we do. If this is going to be permanent you two are going to have to follow some ground rules." Robin said

"If you two want to sleep in the same room as us let alone have sex with us you two are going to have to start bathing regularly." Nami said

"And regularly using our definition not yours. The days are gone when you would go without bathing for long days at a time." Robin said

"You are going to have to start bathing every night before bed." Nami said that with a look that said she had been waiting to test the new bed in their 'new' room. "Now, go take a bath and I will be in our room." Nami said

"Zoro. I'll be waiting." Robin said. She winked at the green haired swordsman.

Both Nami and Robin walked away from the guys. As they did Luffy and Zoro made certain to watch them as they made their exit. The way their hips were swaying with each step they took was seductive to say the very least.

Luffy and Zoro not wanting to waste anymore time took off for the bathroom. In no time at all they were clean and both heading back to their respective rooms. Once on the grass deck they split ways and headed up the staircase that would take them to where their respective ladies were waiting for them. Luffy took the left and Zoro went up the right. Before they opened the doors they shot each other a glance that said best of luck. They both nodded and around the same time opened and shut the doors. What the guys didn't know was that the ladies took what little time they figured they had to get ready and put on whatever clothes or lack their of they thought would turn on their partner the fastest.

Zoro walked into his room he saw Robin lying on their bed. She had nothing on. The sight of a naked Robin was enough to get Zoro excited. He removed his swords, taking the extra second to put them in the corner of the room. He took off his clothes and left them lying on the floor. Robin walked over to him and grabbed him. She took his penis and started pumping it up and down. While Robin was doing that Zoro had put two fingers inside her and started exploring a little bit. Zoro took the time to make sure that Robin was ready.

"You're already wet."

"Of course. I figured we can skip the foreplay and get to the good part. Now go lie down."

Zoro went to lay down on the bed and started stroking himself. Robin walked over to the bed and climbed on top of Zoro. She straddled him, grabbed his penis and put it inside of her.

"That feels incredible." Zoro said.

"Oh, just you wait." Robin said before she started gyrating her hips. Zoro had his hands on her thighs while she moved forward and back rhythmically. Zoro couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her luscious breasts were too enticing as they moved with Robin. He moved his left hand from her thigh and placed his palm in the center of her breast so that it would cover her nipple. Every so often he would tease her nipple. He moved his right hand her further south to her clit. All he could do was tease the sensitive little button as Robin continued her pace. Robin could feel her climax building. Finally the combination of Robin gyrating her hips and a near constant tingling sensation from her clit finally brought her over the edge. She came releasing her fluids all over Zoro's penis.

"Not letting me finish, huh." Zoro said as Robin got up off of him.

Zoro got off of the bed and allowed Robin to take his place. Robin got on her back allowed Zoro to take charge. He stood on the floor and pulled Robin closer to him. Her right leg was being held up by Zoro while her left was wrapped around the back of his right leg. He turned her so that her left side was on the bed. With Robin in the position she was in and her breasts being as heavy as they are slightly fell to one side. Her left boob was being squished slightly under the weight of the right. Zoro took his still erect penis in his hand and started to tease Robin's folds with the head.

"Aren't you going to put it in?" She asked almost pleading.

"Not just yet." He said before he continued to tease her. A few more moments of this was all Zoro could take before he couldn't hold back any longer and plunged himself between her moist folds. All the while her hips were hovering in the air even with his waist. As strong as Zoro was he could hold her for hours. He probably had during a prior session and he would have to again tonight. Their libido's seemed as high as ever.

Zoro slowly pulled out only to plunge right back in. After a few repetitions he was up to his regular pace. He kept his relaxed pace for quiet some time before he sped it up. Without succumbing to orgasm Zoro stopped his thrusting. He pulled out of Robin and in a quick motion rotated her so she had her plump round ass in the air.

"A little warning next time." Robin said

"I thought you like it rough." Zoro said with a cockeyed grin on his face.

Robin didn't say anything. Instead she lifted herself off the mattress and held that position. Zoro stuck his finger in and quickly pulled back out. A moment later Robin had his entire length inside of her. He grabbed her hips and started thrusting. The sound of skin on skin echoed throughout the room. It was music to there ears and no one else in the crew knew it was going on. They may have felt the floor shake from both couples going at it but they couldn't hear any sex noises. No screams or the skin on skin contact.

Zoro continued to thrust into Robin. He stopped to pull out and rubbed his penis on her folds only for him to put himself back inside. He sped up and started thrusting as hard and as fast as he could. Zoro felt her walls tighten around him as he was thrusting. The increased friction on Zoro's member caused him to orgasm. He released his load inside Robin. That wasn't the end of their night. They went on for quite some time until they were worn out. They eventually called it a night and Robin fell asleep cuddled up to next to Zoro with her head on his chest.

At the same time Zoro walked into his room Luffy walked into his room. He could see Nami lying on the sheets. She had sheer black lingerie on. You could see everything. At this point it might have been better to just be naked. Her nipples were clearly visible and already poking at the thin fabric. Her pussy was clearly visible beneath her equally sheer panties. Like Robin Nami had used her time to get herself ready.

Moments earlier she had moved her panties aside and she was playing with herself. She was rubbing her clit while she was plunging her fingers in and our of her vagina.

Luffy stripped off all of his clothes aside from his straw hat and left them on the floor. He placed his straw hat on a hook on the wall and walked over to Nami. Luffy didn't stand a chance when he walked into the bedroom. The sight of Nami in her sexy panties and already pretty much naked got him excited.

"Help me with these." She said as she lifted her hips up off the bed. Luffy placed his hands on her hips and pulled the strings holding her panties together Nami. No longer being held in place her panties fell off revealing her vagina. Luffy pulled them from under Nami and tossed them aside. By now she had already taken her bra off and she as well tossed it across the room.

"Lie down on the bed." Nami said

Luffy nodded instead of asking any questions. With Luffy on the bed, Nami climbed on top of him. Expect she was facing the opposite way. Luffy's penis was half erect so just to make sure he was ready for the main event Nami started sucking on his penis. However Nami paused for a second when she felt Luffy lightly pinch her clit and start licking her mound and her lips. In place of his penis he would use his fingers on her already moist vagina.

"What are you doing?" She asked

"Have to make sure you're ready for what I have in store for tonight." He said

Nami didn't say anything she just went back to sucking Luffy off. She would switch between her hand and her mouth but to mix it up a little she would lick or suck on Luffy's kintama. After more stimulation both Luffy and Nami came. Nami rolled off of Luffy and he sat up on the bed. Nami climbed into his lap and positioned herself with her feet on the bed so she could take charge. Luffy's legs were hanging off the side of the bed while he was leaning back and using his arms to support himself and Nami.

"This is different." Luffy said before he showed her his infectious smile.

Nami lifted herself up just a little so she could guide Luffy inside. It took a couple of tries but she was successful. She started bouncing up and down under her own power. She had wrapped her arms around Luffy's neck. Being that close she had her chest pressed against Luffy's.

"Your breasts feel great against my chest Nami."

Nami stopped her bouncing. She pouted like when she was waiting for her treasure after she sent Luffy, Zoro and Sanji to get get it back for her on Fishman Island.

"My breasts feel good, what about my pussy?" Nami asked still pouting.

"It always feels amazing I thought that goes without saying Nami. I would have came if you didn't stop when you did."

"Well then. How about I finish you off. I've been thinking about what you said earlier." Nami said before she started bouncing on Luffy's penis. Bouncing up and down on Luffy got Nami horny again. She wanted to know what Luffy had thought up for her. She started going faster than she had been. The increased speed felt good on Luffy but he fidgeted as his arm felt a little numb. He only moved a little bit but something happened. The change in his position brought Nami over the edge. She came and released on Luffy. The warm liquid around Luffy's penis plus the feeling of him rubbing against Nami's vagina brought him to orgasm. Nami's feet and legs gave out and she sat down on Luffy's waist with her legs stretched out onto the bed.

"I didn't expect that." Nami said

"I hope you like what's next." Luffy said.

After doing all the work Nami stayed in place for a little while until she was able to get up off of Luffy. When she was able to get up she laid down on the bed. Luffy got up off the bed and pulled Nami close to him. He grabbed his penis and brought the head to her lips. He teased her entrance by just putting the head into her only to pull back out. He repeated that a few times going a little bit further each time. However he never went more than a quarter of the way in.

"Luffy, stop teasing me."

"You're going to wish I would tease you."

His first thrust was slow by comparison. He started picking up speed. Soon enough he was going full throttle. One second he was inside the next he was out. While thrusting he got into a rhythm. He was had been holding onto Nami's hips. But he moved his left hand and put it low down between her legs and started using his thumb to tease her clit. Nami's vagina got tighter as Luffy continued teasing and thrusting into her. The increased pressure on Luffy caused him to orgasm. The warm semen that flowed into Nami brought her over the edge and to orgasm. They stop for a moment only for Luffy to continue thrusting into Nami. Luffy could stare at his queen all day. Her face, her beautiful orange locks, but what really got him in this situation were her curves and her supple breasts.

He would never get sick of watching them move as he would thrust in and out. The pair continued to have sex and orgasm until they could just barely move. They had tried multiple positions and finally had to call it a night. They were sweaty and tired and the room probably smelled but they didn't care. It was their sanctuary, it was where they could be with each other and no one could tell them otherwise. Finally the pair had covered up and managed to drift off to sleep. But before Luffy fell asleep he was thinking. He was glad he didn't use gear second. He could have brought Nami to a new level of pleasure and an orgasm she would never forget. But he would run the risk of hurting her. If he did that it would mean no sex. But more importantly he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for hurting the woman he loves.

The next morning

Nami woke up first and she still had her hand on his chest. Luffy and Nami had fallen asleep next to each other. Luffy had his hand resting comfortably on her hip holding her tight. Nami tried to move but she was only pulled back towards Luffy.

'I'm not going to be moving until Luffy wakes up.' She was thought. Then again she didn't really want to get up just yet. So she snuggled up next to Luffy and closed her eyes.

In the room next-door Zoro woke up first. He had one hand under his head, elbow sticking out to the side relaxing while Robin was sleeping with her head resting on his chest.

'I can get used to this. It's not so bad having to shower every night if she is who I get to spend the night with.' Zoro thought

Robin stirred from her sleep and slowly lifted her head off of Zoro's chest. "Good morning." She said with a smile. "Our first time together in our room."

"It's nice not having to worry about someone walking in on us." Zoro said

"I agree. Just being able to stay in bed for as long as we like is wonderful." Robin said

"Just waking up next to you makes me happy."

Robin was speechless but was able to pull some words together. "I don't think I've ever heard you say that."

"That may be true but just because I don't say it doesn't mean I'm not thinking it."

"Both of us don't always say what we're thinking."

"Well, that's true. I'm sure that is something I can work on."

"Don't worry, don't try to change yourself for me. We may not say it with words but we certainly do say it with actions." Robin said before she went to kiss Zoro on the lips. "If you would excuse me I think I am going to take a bath before breakfast."

Zoro let go of Robin and she got out of bed. She was completely naked, as if that was a surprise after their activities last night. She walked around the bed, close to the Zoro's side. As she walked by him she was swinging her hips seductively like the night prior. As she passed by he squeezed her ass cheek.

"Oh Zoro, you're so naughty." Robin said turning her head to look back at him.

"Yeah, I am. But you like it? Don't you?"

"You know I do." Robin said with a sultry smirk on her face.

Robin went to put on her clothes from the night before. She grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and went to the bath house.

Around the middle of Robin and Zoro's conversation Luffy was waking up. Luffy used his free left hand to squeeze Nami's nipple. Nami wiggled in her sleep and lazily opened her eyes.

"Lu…ffy, don't…do that." Nami said as she slowly woke up.

"Sorry about that Nami." Luffy said "it's fun."

"How would you like it if I grabbed your dick every morning?"

"I don't know. How hard are you grabbing it?"

"Luffy!"

"Alright, I won't squeeze your nipple. At least I didn't go for something lower."

"Luffy, are you still that horny?"

"Not really, but it's hard not to be. I get to spend so much time with you and getting to see you naked every day."

"What do you mean?"

"Did I say something I shouldn't have?"

"What do you see me as?"

"What do I see you as? I see you as my queen, someone who I want to be better for. I see you as my equal and in many things my better half. I mean it nice that I get to hang out with you. I've learned so much just spending time with you while you work on your maps. Plus getting to see parts of you that you haven't shown to anybody else is a bonus."

"I'm sorry Luffy."

"What are you sorry for?"

"For a second there I thought you only saw me as a means for sex."

"Are you stupid?"

"What the hell do you mean?" Nami asked getting agitated

"What do I mean? Only seeing you for your body is horrible. For the longest time I saw you as the smartest person on the crew. In fact I still do. It's only thanks to you that we made it this far. In fact I know that if it weren't for you we would have likely hit the Red Line, attempting to sail into the Grand Line. I always knew there was something different about you. I could never quite figure it out. It wasn't until much later that I actually saw you in a way that other people see you. Your beauty in my mind has always come second to the way you carry yourself and your skills as a navigator. The sex is a wonderful bonus."

"Wow…just wow. I'm sorry Luffy."

"What for?" Luffy asked confused

"I'm not really sure what I was thinking." Nami said "The way you were talking about how you get horny around me, it just made me think."

"Ok…now I'm confused."

"Don't be. I was over thinking things."

"Ok, if you say so."

"I do say so. But the way you see me is part of the reason I fell for you."

"I call it like I see it, you know I'm a terrible liar." Luffy said

"You really are." Nami said

"You know there is one thing that's true about our relationship." Luffy said

"Oh yeah, what is that?"

"I am yours and you are mine. Nothing is going to change that."

"Damn it. You always say stuff like that. It makes it hard for me to not fall for you all over again."

Luffy was about to say something but Nami put a finger over his lips to keep him quiet.

"Don't say anything else. If you do I might just jump you. So, I'm going to take my finger off of your lips, you are going to let go of me and I am going to go soak in the bath."

Luffy nodded and let go of Nami. She moved her finger from his mouth, got dressed in her clothes from last night and went to the bath. She knocked on the door. "Anyone in there?"

"Yes, but come in." Robin said

Nami was relieved to hear Robin's voice. She walked in, got undressed and walked into the bath. When she walked in she saw that Robin was already relaxing in the tub.

"Morning Nami-san." Robin said. "Have a nice night?"

"I did. It was nice sleeping in our own bed after having some fun." Nami said as she sat down to wash up. "How was your night?"

"It was very enjoyable. I must agree, that it was nice being able to sleep in my own bed."

"It was weird wasn't it?"

"You mean us no longer sharing a room?"

"Yeah, that's it exactly. We've shared a room since you joined the crew."

"That is true. But we have someone else to keep us company at night now."

"It's just going to take some time to get used to our new living arrangements."

"Yes, also it's not like we haven't spent nights with the guys already."

After that the talking in the bathroom came to a stop and a comfortable silence fell on the room. Soon Nami got into the tub with Robin. The two ladies just relaxed and sat back in the bath.

Robin was the first out followed not long after by Nami. By the time Nami got around to putting on a clean change of clothes Robin was already outside. After the bath Nami was refreshed. She walked out of the door to the ladder, down into the library, out that door and down the ladder into the kitchen where much of the crew was sitting waiting for breakfast.

"Did you guys like your rooms?" Franky asked

"Loved ours. You two put so much work into it. I can't thank you enough." Nami said

"Wow, thanks Nami. That means a lot."

"All the details looked great Usopp."

"Glad you like it."

"I must agree with Nami-san. Everything looked beautiful."

"It was all worth it, wasn't it Usopp?"

"Yeah, as long as they are happy."

"Ladies and bastards, breakfast is served." Sanji said before he brought out enough food to keep Luffy full to at least lunch. The rest of breakfast was uneventful. Random conversations between crew members. All in all it was a rather tame breafast for the Straw Hats.

After breakfast the Straw Hats went to relax. Nami went to check the course and made any adjustments necessary. They had sailed through the night. This was the East Blue after all. They all had enough experience handling storms in the New World to be able to handle anything this ocean could dish out. A few hours passed and finally the Straw Hats made it to Shimotsuki Village, which as far as the Straw Hats knew was Zoro's home. They docked the ship away from a populated area. This area may be the place Zoro called home for around a decade but they were still pirates.

"What do you want us to do Zoro?" Nami asked.

"You can do whatever you guys want. I only have two stops to make then we can keep going."

"I'm curious to see where you grew up Zoro so I am going to come with you." Robin said

"Fine with me, let's go." Zoro said before he walked over to the railing and jumped over. Robin followed down the ladder and soon they disappeared into the woods.

"It's good that Robin-chan went with him. The marimo is still as direction impaired as ever. He would spend so much time just aimlessly wandering around."

"That may be true but Robin doesn't exactly know this island." Franky said

"He's still better off with Robin than he would be on his own." Usopp said

Some aimless wandering later the pair made their way to the Isshin Dojo.

"Are you ready?" Robin asked

"Of course, it's just weird to be back here after so long."

"Nostalgic?"

"Yeah, it doesn't look like the place has changed."

"Nothing wrong with having some things stay the same. Our lives are crazy as it is, constantly moving from place to place. Sometimes it's good to have a few constants in your life."

Zoro looked at her and nodded. He walked up to the main door and pushed it open. As he made his way inside he saw children practicing and kids taking a break between lessons. The children who were practicing had a piece of tape on their left eyes. They all had a sword in each hand and one in their mouths. They all were trying to learn a style of swordsmanship unigue to a certain very powerful swordsman who got his start in this very dojo. It wasn't long before both students and teachers took notice of the black haired beauty and the green haired swordsman how has three swords on his right hip. Robin could see that everyone had a strange mix of emotions on their faces. It looked like they were scared, excited and confused all rolled into one. Finally one student walked up to Zoro and said what was on the mind of all of the people in the dojo.

"You're Roronoa Zoro aren't you?"

"Yeah." Zoro said

With that simple response everyone went nuts. Instead of panicking the students ran up to him and started barraging him with questions. He didn't even know where to start. He could barely hear himself think.

"Quiet." Zoro said and all of the people stopped talking. "That's better. It sounds like you all have question. We're going to sit over there." Zoro said pointing to the tree. "You can ask me anything you want once we are over there."

Zoro and Robin walked over to the tree and sat down. All of the students followed the couple and sat a few feet away from them.

"Now, one at a time." Zoro said

"Why did you become a pirate?" One student asked

"Wow, I didn't expect that right away." Zoro said. He took a deep breath and tilted his head back before he started to talk. "I became a pirate after Luffy helped me out of a tight situation. I had already been given the nickname of pirate hunter Zoro. It was something that came with what I was doing for money as I traveled around."

Only Robin knew that at least part of the story was false. She would have to ask about how Zoro met Luffy later. She could tell he was hiding something. However she knew he did turn in pirates for money but it wasn't because he was traveling. He was more than likely very lost. Even years later he still had no sense of direction.

"How did you get that scar across your chest?" Another student asked

"I got this in the East Blue years ago when I fought Hawkeye Mihawk for the first time." Zoro said before he paused to look at all the stunned faces.

"He was here, sailing these waters? Why?"

"Boredom. He destroyed some pirates fleet and chased them out of the Grand Line. He followed them here and cut their galleon into three large pieces."

"He cut apart a galleon?" A third student asked

"I was impressed when I saw it, but I know plenty of powerful swordsman in the New World who can do that rather easily."

"The expression on their faces really does say it all doesn't it Zoro?" Robin asked

"You're right. I think I had a similar expression on my face when I saw it happen."

"So, you challenged Mihawk. What happened?" One of the few sensei's asked.

"I was beyond outclassed and lost. He stopped my attack with a small knife. He stabbed me right here." Zoro said as he pointed to his chest. "The East Blue is the weakest of the four blues. He said that even though I made a name for myself here I was nothing but a big fish in a small pond. He told me that if I wanted to become strong I would have to find my true self. He told me I would have to learn about this world and what it had to offer."

"A big fish in a small pond." One student said

"That's right. Just remember that there is always someone stronger than you out there somewhere. Never be content with your skills. You must always push yourself to be stronger and faster than anyone you might run into."

"That is excellent advice. Zoro." Koshiro said

"It's been quite a while sensei."

"It has." Koshiro said as he looked at Zoro. But then he turned his attention to his students. "Your break time is over. Go back to your training. That is if someday you wish to challenge the greatest swordsman in the world."

All of the students stood up and turned to Koshiro. "Yes Sensei." They all said before they bowed to their master. Then all of Koshiro's pupils turned to face Zoro. They bowed before the greatest student and swordsman to ever come out of this dojo. After that they proceeded to go back to their training.

"Now Zoro, if you and your guest would follow me I will make us some tea and we can talk."

Zoro and Robin followed Koshiro into one of the many buildings on the property. The pair sat down while Koshiro went to make tea.

"So, what do you think?"

"It's nice, sort of what I expected from a dojo. I can imagine a young Zoro running around this place training harder than anyone else."

"Yeah, I certainly did do that. No one around here could beat me, so I got into strength training at a relatively young age."

"That's not surprising considering the weights I've seen you train with."

Zoro was about to respond but Koshiro walked in with a pot of tea and three cups.

"I'm impressed Zoro. I've been following your journey over the past several years. You made quite the name for yourself." Koshiro said as he poured tea and handed the first cup to Robin.

"Here you are Robin-san"

"Thank you"

The second cap he handed to Zoro and the third for himself.

"Thank you."

"You're both welcome. You know I'm actually surprised to see you with Nico Robin."

"Why is that?"

"I thought I stressed to limit your distractions."

"Robin has never been a distraction. She pushed me to keep moving forward. She is one of many people who have helped me get to where I am now."

"As long as you remember your training it's none of my business what you do."

"That's true."

"I was happy to hear about your victory over Hawk Eye Mihawk. I was genuinely surprised to hear that he lived."

"I couldn't kill him. Spending years by Luffy's side has taught me a lot. I've watched him turn many old enemies into friends."

"So after a duel over the title for Worlds Strongest Swordsman you just walked away?"

"Yes and no." Zoro said "I left him with a wound similar to this one." Zoro said as he pointed to the long since healed scar on his chest. "You taught me that when you fight with someone you learn more about them from their movements than their words. Well that was certainly true for this duel. We both have a great deal of respect for each other. It wouldn't be as much fun in the New World if I didn't have a rival to fight against from time to time."

Koshiro didn't say anything. He just sipped on his tea. "I cannot fault you for leaving a strong swordsman such as Mihawk alive. It is not my place to question your decisions. However you have a large target painted on your back."

"We've always had a large target painted on our backs. That's what we get for following Luffy." Robin said

"That is true. Being a part of the Pirate Kings crew does mean that even more enemies will be coming after you."

"Let them come. I look forward to the challenge. I will be sure to protect the title I have worked so hard to achieve. Kuina and I promised each other that one day one of us would become the greatest swordsman in the world. I made a name for myself. If I didn't become the best my name wouldn't reach the heavens."

"I trust Wado Ichimonji played a part in your rise to the top?"

"It did. I lost many swords along the way. Some to powerful opponents, others from my own carelessness. But the Wado has never left my side."

"What is next for you?"

"We are going back to the crew. We still have so much of the world to see."

"The world is an awfully big place."

"Yes, I can't protect my title from here."

"The four blues are a wonderful place to call home. But for us, it's just not exciting enough. Once you've experienced the New World nothing else can compare. You start to miss the impossible changes in the weather." Robin said

"I wish you the best Zoro and to you as well Nico Robin." Koshiro got up, bowed and left the room without saying another word.

"I didn't expect that." Robin said

"Robin, there is one more place I need to go. Do you mind if I go there alone?"

"Of course, talking to an old childhood friend who has passed on is rather personal."

"Thank you."

Both Zoro and Robin got up and walked in different directions. Robin went back to the Sunny and Zoro headed for Kuina's grave.

Back at the Sunny

"How did it go Robin?" Nami asked

"I think it went ok. Zoro's sensei was very set in his old traditions."

Nami nodded. "So he didn't talk to you. He talked through you?"

"That's a good way to describe it." Robin said "He has lived a certain way for so long, it would be quite the shock to change the way he has done things for decades."

"What did Zoro say?"

"He didn't say anything. He was caught in the middle. On one hand is me. His crew mate, lover and girlfriend. On the other is the man who taught Zoro how to become a proper swordsman. I could tell that he was annoyed at the way his sensei was talking. But I can take care of myself."

Around the same time Robin made it back to the Sunny, Zoro found Kuina's grave. He sat down in front of her grave. He put his hands together, closed his eyes and prayed for a few moments. After he was done paying his respects he opened his eyes and started talking.

"I did it. I fulfilled the promise we made to each other all those years ago. I beat Hawk Eye Mihawk and became the greatest swordsman in the world." Zoro paused for a minute. "I was able to do it a lot faster than I had ever imagined possible. I made lifelong friends along the way. Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook and Jinbe. Luffy saved me from death and for that I am grateful. He gave me a place to call home and gave me a way to challenge myself. I guess I owe Luffy a thank you for that."

"He was always getting us into trouble against more and more powerful adversaries. I pushed myself to even greater heights than I ever thought possible. I learned techniques we could have never imagined were possible coming from this tiny little village. The world is an amazing place filled with so many incredible countries. Some that would sound impossible if I wasn't there to see them for myself. An island in the sky, An island at the bottom of the sea and a country on the back of a thousand year old giant elephant."

"The people we met along the way were interesting. We met giants, dwarves, people with long arms, people with long legs, people from the sky, fishmen, mermaids, people with long necks, and minkmen. We made it to the end of the New World to an island called Raftel. Over the years there was one constant. That was the sword your father let me have after you died. I lost a handful of swords but yours was the one that was always at my side. I wish you could have been there with us to be able to see all that this world has to offer." Zoro stopped talking to look at the stone pillar.

After a little time just sitting there Zoro got up. "I'm going to get going." Zoro said "I have a girlfriend, a crew and a title to protect after all. We still have so many countries to see. Someday I will be back to tell you more about what I have seen. You know, I sat here and talked to this stone memorial. I wonder if you can even hear me?"

Zoro asked himself as he turned to walk away.

Hovering above the memorial was a young girl with blue hair. She had been sitting there listening to Zoro tell her about some of the things he witnessed. She looked happy. Was she happy to see what kind of adult the boy who couldn't beat her in their 2,001 matches turned out to be? Was it because she knew he was happy? Or was it for something else entirely? Regardless of the reason the girl felt relieved that he came back but sad that he would be leaving again. As much as she wanted him to stay she knew she couldn't make him stay here. She knew he had moved on with his life. He had people who rely on him. He found someone to love him. So before he was gone again for who knows how long she tried to yell out to him.

'…o', 'Z…o', '…r…' on the fourth try she managed to get most of his name. 'Zor…'

Hearing something Zoro turned around. It was on the fifth try that he heard his name. 'Zoro' the name seemingly came from no where. But he turned to look around to see if one of the members of the crew had been calling him from a distance and he wasn't paying attention. No one was there. But something was odd about the for a lack of better word, the voice. It sounded familiar, but it was a voice he hadn't heard in well over a decade. It took a few seconds to process.

"Kuina" He said, "Are you there?"

'Yes, I'm here.' She said. As she said that her from became visible. It took a few moments for Zoro to process what he was seeing. She was sitting cross legged floating above the memorial.

"Ok, I must be going crazy. There is no way that you are there."

'Oh, but I am. Well, sort of I guess.'

"Maybe I should quit drinking, I think I'm hallucinating. Or does this call for more alcohol?"

'Would you shut up you idiot. I can't stay here long.'

"Alright. I'm listening."

'I just wanted to congratulate you on becoming the best swordsman in the world. I wish I could have been there to watch you beat Mihawk. It must have been an incredible fight.'

"Everyone tells me it was incredible to watch." Zoro said shrugging it off.

'I guess I can only take their word for it. Now listen to me. You better hold onto that title for as long as possible. You understand?'

"Understoood." Zoro said with crooked smile.

'Good. Zoro, I have to be going soon. It was great to see you again and getting to see the man you grew up to be. Take care yourself and that lady of yours. I don't want to see you here for a long, long time!'

"Of course. Robin would kill me if I died."

'Thank you for fulfilling our dream and taking care of Wado Ichimonjo. Can I see it one last time?'

Zoro didn't say anything he just drew the sword from his hip held it out for her to look at.

'It shines as brilliantly as ever. You really do take good care of it, don't you?'

"Yeah, I've made sure it stays looking impeccable." Zoro said before he put the blade away.

'Good. Now, get out of here. No reason for you to stay here in this depressing place. You have a whole world to explore. Go out and experience it with your friends and your special lady. Also, forget about my father, remember his teachings in swordsmanship. But forget his mannerisms. You and he are very different people.'

Zoro nodded as he wiped a tear from his good eye.

'Goodbye Zoro.' Kuina said as she started to fade away.

"Goodbye Kuina." Zoro said as she faded into nothingness.

'I love you.' Was the last thing Zoro heard before he started to walk away.

"God Dammit." Zoro said as he walked away from the dojo and towards the Thousand Sunny.

Not too long later Zoro made it to the Sunny. Everyone was minding their own business when the swordsman climbed up the rope ladder to the deck. The first one to walk towards him was Robin, but she could tell by the look in his eye that he didn't want to be disturbed for a little while. Zoro walked towards the kitchen and grabbed a couple of bottles of rum before he headed up to the crows nest. Once up stairs Zoro came over the loud speaker.

"Ready to go when you guys are." He said and hung up.

Everyone had long since made it back to Sunny. So they readied the ship to set sail. In a half hour or so they were out on the open ocean again.

"Well, that was an uneventful trip." Usopp said

"I agree. But it was nice not having to deal with the locals." Franky said

"To whose home island are we heading to next?" Brook asked

"We know the Baratie will be our second to last stop before we head back to the Grand Line." Robin said "Who wants to go home next?"

"We are closer to the Gecko Islands and Syrup Village than we are to the Conomi Islands and Cocoyashi Village." Nami said

"Then I guess we are going to Syrup Village next. However before we go there I want to go to Shells town."

"Isn't that where you met Zoro?" Nami asked

"It is." Luffy said

"Why did you want to go there?" Usopp asked

"Just want to drop in and see an old friend."

* * *

 **Revan3363: Hope that answers your question as to what Jinbe has been up to.**

 **Midnightscar17: Sorry for the wait. Hopefully I can get chapter 5 out by next week.**

 **Czar Joesph: Glad you enjoyed it. Did you like this one? The sexy time scene took me the longest to write.**

 **Lightningblad49: It should be fun writing about what all of those places might be like post time skip. Do you follow the manga? If you don't Oda is doing another around the world reaction cover page series.**


	5. Changes in the World

It has been a few hours since the Straw Hats left Shimotsuki village. Zoro had finally come back down and was about to go talk to Robin. He found her sitting in a lawn chair on the grass deck reading one of her many books.

"Robin" Zoro said

Robin put down her book to acknowledge the younger swordsman. "Yes" she said

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I just walked off without giving you an explanation."

"You don't have to tell me what's going on if you don't want to."

"I know. Can I sit down?"

Robin sat up in her chair to make room for the marimo.

"I was going to tell you when I got back to the ship. But I was having trouble believing it myself."

"What happened that would be so difficult to believe?"

"What I am going to tell you will sound crazy."

"I'm listening. But it can't be all that ridiculous with all that we have seen while traveling in the New World."

"Alright. When I was little my friend and rival died, we had promised each other that one day one of us would become the greatest swordsman in the world. Somehow her spirit came back and appeared in front of me while I was paying my respects."

Robin didn't say anything. She sat there and looked at her significant other. "That is certainly one of the more morbid and interesting things that could happen in this world."

"You don't think I'm crazy?"

"Of course not. It must have been quite a site to get you so shaken up."

"It was surreal. I mean a friend who has been dead for over a decade comes back to see me and say goodbye."

"Maybe she had always been there. She could have had some sort of regret that kept her here. Maybe seeing you after all this time she was finally able to cut her ties to this world and she was finally able to rest in peace and move on. I mean we have a living skeleton who spent a year as a spirit in the florian triangle."

"You know, that sounds as reasonable as anything."

"Another possibility is that Brook could have discovered another ability. His fruit allowed his soul to go back to his body after he died, giving him a second chance at life. Even just as a skeleton Brook still walks and talks. He is living proof that nothing is impossible. Who is to say that his power can't bring back a dead persons spirit for a small amount of time."

"With all of the devil fruits out there that one just makes more sense than the regret. I mean we have seen people do the impossible with devil fruit powers before. You know, there was something else that really shocked me."

"What was that?"

"She said she loved me."

"Could you tell what kind of love?"

"No idea. She just said I love you."

"It sounds like it was a romantic sort of love. How do you feel?"

"I'm not sure how to feel. It's been so long since she died. I may have loved her all those years ago and not known it. But she's not the one I love today. That's you." Zoro said before he grabbed Robin by the waist, pulled her in close and kissed her. Robin reciprocated the kiss and they stayed lip locked for a few moments before they separated.

"Nothing wrong with past love. But live in the here and now."

"Can't argue with you there." Zoro said. "Now that that is settled, what did I miss while I was drinking in the crows nest?"

"Luffy decided we are going to Shells Town before we go to Syrup Village."

"Why Shells Town?"

"What happened there?"

"You remember the blond guy who works with Coby?"

"Helmeppo?" Robin asked

"Yeah, that's him. When I met him he was a brat who used his fathers name to do whatever he wanted."

"He was the son of a Marine?"

"His dad is Ax hand Morgan. He was as corrupt as they come. He believed he was superior to everyone in town. I don't really know what he did but the people feared him. One day I was minding my own business, eating lunch when Helmeppo and his pet wolf walk in. He demands free food and lets his wolf walk around. This thing just looked crazy. It was attacking people so I killed the damn wolf. He gets pissed and wants to have this mother and daughter strung up. I don't think he wanted them dead but he wanted to teach them a lesson."

"Let me guess, you took their place. Sometime later Luffy finds his way there by sheer dumb luck and saves you."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. I was real stubborn back then…" Zoro was going to continue but was interrupted.

"Back then?" Robin asked

"Ok, fine. I am still stubborn. Either way Luffy was going to free me, I refused his help. Luffy went somewhere after he saved the little girl whose place I took. Luffy and Coby came back and told me Helmeppo decided he was going to kill me. They ended up saving me even though I objected to the help. I ended up fighting the Marines to get out of the courtyard and by doing that I labeled myself a criminal. Luffy and I beat Morgan and set the town free."

"I assume the little girl is the one we are going to see?"

"Would have to be her. I don't know who else Luffy met back then."

They continue on sailing for a day. It was a little after one in the afternoon the next day when they made it to Shells Town. They sailed into port. Franky prepped the ship so they could leave easily if the townspeople's reaction to them was less than super.

"This is going to be a quick stop then we will continue on to Syrup Village." Luffy said

"Are you going alone?" Nami asked

"You barely know this kid yet you are stopping in to say hi?" Franky said

"Yeah, I know. Last time we saw Coby he asked me to pass a message on to her. I guess he knew we would find the One Piece sooner or later." Luffy said

"Yeah, but how did he know we would come back to the East Blue?" Sanji asked

"Don't know. Maybe he figured we would have a better chance of coming back here before he could."

"That's not unreasonable. He must be pretty busy with his work as a Vice Admiral. He has more duties and responsibilities than we do." Nami said

"You're probably right Nami." Luffy said. "Hey Zoro are you coming?"

"I'll stay here." Zoro said "Tell her I said hi."

"Can do." Luffy said before he vanished from the ship. Luffy had been using his haki to try to sense Rika. As good as he was he couldn't pick out specific people if he hadn't been around them in a long time. He appeared in the middle of town to the shock and surprise of the townspeople. He started walking around, as he did that he intertwined his fingers and put his hands behind his head. As he was walking he could hear the people whispering. One brave little boy came up to the young man wearing the straw hat.

"Are you Straw Hat Luffy?" The little boy of maybe six or seven asked

"Yup, that's me."

There was a mixed reaction among the people in town who had overheard the little boy's question. Some were horrified to see such a powerful and notorious pirate casually walking down the streets. Others were on the fence. They were scared but seeing as he wasn't bothering anyone they decided not to provoke him. The rest of the people seemed to recall a young man wearing a similar outfit with a straw hat come through their town a few months short of five years ago now. That young man along with another young man with green hair had saved them from an oppressive Captain Morgan. They must be the same? The young man with green hair had been a prisoner of Morgan's son and he had been tied to stakes.

The boy didn't ask him any other questions. Luffy could see it in the boy's eyes that he was excited to see such a powerful pirate. Aside from the boy staring no one else said anything more to him. So, Luffy paid them no mind as he kept walking. Eventually he walked to a familiar place on the street. He knocked on the door. A woman in her early forties opened the door.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked. She hadn't heard or seen any of the commotion from inside her home.

"Yeah. I was looking for a young girl, I think her name is Rika. I saw a mutual friend of ours recently and he asked me to come say hi and to give her this." Luffy said as he pulled a note out of his pocket. "I don't usually like playing messenger but it's for a friend."

"I don't know who you and my daughter would share as a friend. You must have the wrong house." She was about to close the door in his face but Luffy spoke up.

"Hold on, his name is Coby. Last time you saw him he was a short, chubby kid with pink hair. I think it must be close to five years ago now."

The mother paused to think and soon enough it hit her like a ton of bricks. She realized who she was having a informal conversation with. "You're Monkey D. Luffy, the King of the Pirates!" She said. She wasn't afraid, but she was visibly nervous.

"That's me. I told her I would go to the Grand Line and get stronger." Luffy said

"That means you're the boy who saved us from Morgan, aren't you?"

Luffy was deep in thought. All the while he was tapping on his chin. "That name does sound familiar." Luffy said "Big guy with a metal jaw and an ax on his arm?"

"That's him. I can't believe you came all this way just to deliver a message." The woman said surprised.

"Oh, I didn't but this island was close by so I decided to drop this off and say hi."

"Rika's at work right about now. She works in the Marine base at the end of the street."

"She works in the Marine base?" Luffy said confused

"Yes, she works in the kitchen."

"Well, I guess I will go there." Luffy said before he walked off.

"Wait, what do you think you're doing? They won't just let you walk in."

"That won't be a problem." Luffy said

"What are you going to do?" Ririka asked. "You're not going to hurt them? Are you?"

"Nope, I'm gonna use Haki to knock them out."

"Haki?" The older woman asked

Luffy just continued walking and let that word just hang there. Soon enough he made his way to the Marine base and used his Kenbunshoku Haki to see how many people there were in the building. He hopped over the wall and started walking around. He was passively using his Haoshoku Haki to knock out anyone who he walked by. While this was less fun, it was easier. He didn't want to have to fight weak marines who wouldn't put up a challenge. In no time at all Luffy made his way to the mess hall. He opened the doors to the room and everyone stopped eating. They turned to see who had entered the room. They couldn't believe who had wandered into their base. The next second everyone fell to the floor unconscious, all except for one girl of about thirteen.

"What happened to everyone? They all just passed out." Rika said disturbed.

That was when the man walked up to the counter. His hat was covering his eyes but she recognized it instantly. She had been keeping up to date with his activities.

"You don't have to keep your face covered Luffy-san. I know who you are. I remember what you did for all of us in this town." Rika said

"Oh, good. I'm glad you remember me." Luffy said before he cracked a smile.

"What did you do to them?" Rika asked

"I just knocked them out with Haoshoku Haki."

"What is haki?"

"Something I learned during my travels. You know, before I left I told you I would get stronger. I think I did." He said

"You did. I was skeptical you would be able to do it at first. But your name was in the paper so often. I'm so happy for you and for Zoro. You both fulfilled your dreams. Of course I followed your adventures but I had to contain my enthusiasm quite a bit here. I'm sure everyone in town was secretly happy for you both."

"I can't get used to hearing that. People being happy for pirates. Who would have thought that could ever happen?"

"You two are this towns heroes."

"Come on. You know we're not heroes." He said sticking his tongue out at the little girl.

"We think you are and there is nothing you can say that will make us think any different." Rika said getting right in Luffy's face.

"Alright, alright. If it makes you happy."

"It does. So, what brings you back here after all this time?"

"Oh, right." Luffy said "I ran into Coby a few months ago. About a month or so before we found the One Piece. He gave me this." Luffy said before he took a letter out of his pocket. He handed it to Rika.

Rika unfolded the letter and read it. She got a little emotional reading the letter. She was happy to hear from an old friend after so long. Rika wiped the tears from her eyes and looked to Luffy. "So that's what happened. I knew that one day Coby and Helmeppo left on a ship to transport Morgan and they didn't come back. It's great finally getting to know a little of what they went through."

"Yeah, Coby said getting trained by my grandpa was tough but he was glad he was given a chance to make his dream come true."

"I still wish they would have said goodbye."

"Don't worry Rika. Coby has more responsibilities as a Vice Admiral. But he also has more freedom to do what he wants. He told me he would come back here. I bet he would have no trouble getting my gramps to pull some strings for him."

"You think he will come back?"

"I'm sure of it. You are on a Marine base after all. Eventually someone has to come through here for Mariney type business. It might as well be him. Who better to judge potential than someone who started out in this base?"

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Well Rika. I think I should get going. These guys will wake up soon and I don't feel like knocking them out again."

"Well you are just a little infamous around here." Rika said holding her thumb and pointer finger out in front of her and bringing them closer together.

"Yeah, it wouldn't look good for this place to let the Pirate King come and go as he pleased. So forgive me for this. You will only be out for a few minutes." He said before he knocked her out with his Haoshoku haki. He jumped over the counter and caught her before she was hurt.

He went to grab some food for the road before he left. He made it to the harbor and almost to the Sunny before the sirens from the Marine base started going off.

The rest of the crew had been waiting for their captain. Luffy had only been gone for half an hour before he reappeared in front of the Sunny. Then they heard sirens going off. Luffy jumped on board the Sunny and they took off.

"Luffy." Nami said "What the hell did you do in there?"

"I just knocked the marines and went to talk to an old friend." Luffy said. "Zoro, Rika said she was happy that you were able to fulfill your dream."

Zoro only nodded before he went to sit down and go to sleep. Franky had already got the ship ready to set sail. Soon enough they were out of the harbor and out in open ocean.

"You think they will be coming after us?" Nami asked

"Not likely." Usopp said. "Even if they did they should know that just one of us would be more than enough to wipe them out. If they do it may be just as a means to get us away from town."

"That's not unreasonable. But I am curious and have questions." Nami said.

"Alright." Luffy said kind of confused as to what she had questions about.

"Who exactly is Rika?" Nami asked

"Rika is a friend. I saved her from Helmeppo around the same time I helped Zoro."

"Isn't Helmeppo a Marine." Nami said

"When we met him he was very different from the guy we saw a few months ago. He was a miserable bastard who abused his father's power to do whatever he wanted." Zoro said

"So she is the little girl from your story earlier." Robin said

Zoro nodded. He promptly went back to sleep.

"So both Coby and Helmeppo started at this base?" Nami asked

"Yeah, but I don't think they were here very long. Once we left we didn't see them again until after Enies Lobby, while we were still in Water 7. By that time they had most likely been training with gramps at Marine HQ."

"Well, I'm satisfied. How about you Nami?" Robin asked

"Yeah. I'm good." Nami said

"Hey Luffy." Franky said.

"What's up Franky?"

"Looks like a few Marine ships are trying to catch up to us."

"Leave them be. Even if they do catch up they are no threat."

"I will keep an eye on them anyway." Usopp said

"Nami, set a course for the Gecko Islands." Luffy said

"Don't you think I know that's where we are going. It's been done for a while now. I started working on it after you left."

"Right. I should've known you would be a few steps ahead of me."

"Of course. I know how you think."

"Do you know what I am thinking now?" Luffy asked

"Of course. And you can forget it. I'm not in the mood right now." Nami said

"But you're always in the mood." Luffy said

Nami didn't say anything. She just blushed. Usopp walked over to Luffy and put his arm around the back of his neck, resting his hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"Luffy, I think I speak for all of us when I say I don't want to hear it. You two have your own room now. Go in there and take care of your business." Usopp said before he walked away. He went up to the roof deck above the bathhouse to make sure the Marines didn't try anything they would regret.

Usopp was surprised when he saw the ships off in the distance. "Wow, those are smaller than I remember." Usopp said to the crew down below.

"Of course they are. These look like toys compared to the massive ships we've fought off." Sanji said as he sky walked his way over to the roof deck.

"You think they are going to attack?" Usopp asked

"Who knows? Luffy and the Marimo encountered these Marines years ago. They were already stronger than them then, it's impossible to believe they could be strong enough to fight them or any of us for that matter." Sanji said

"Even if Garp-san started training them, it would take quiet some time for them to get up to our level." Robin said from the roof deck above the kitchen.

By this time the Straw Hats were a few miles from the island. But the Marines were still in pursuit.

"You would think they would have given up by now." Nami said

"Yeah, but what really is confusing is that they haven't even tried to attack us." Brook said

"Maybe their original intent was to attack us, but they must have received orders from the higher up to just pursue us." Robin said

"Would anyone from Marine HQ actually give those orders?" Nami asked

"With the recent reforms to the Marines and the change in command. This may just be the smarter move." Robin said

"They should be well aware that a fight against us would only end badly and in their boats being destroyed. That being said a change in command could be a problem for the Marines." Nami said. She finished that sentence but she didn't really hear what came out of her mouth. She had to pause to think about what she just said. It was only then that she and the rest of the crew caught up with the conversation.

"What change in command?" The other eight crew members asked

"The Gorosei and the Tenryuubito were removed from power." Robin said

"Wait a second. So what you're telling us is that those bastards at the top of the World Government no longer have any power?" Sanji asked

"Yes, that is correct. Not long after Luffy became the Pirate King did the Revolutionaries storm Mariejoa. They took control of the city in the clouds. According to Koala even Sakazuki had a hand in killing many of the Tenryuubito and only one member of the Gorosei survived but he was captured and imprisoned."

"Was that published in the papers?" Nami asked

"As far as I know, it wasn't. At least they didn't say they killed the Tenryuubito. What was published was something to the effect of the Nobles have been removed from power."

"How come you never said anything about that Robin?" Luffy asked. He didn't make a big scene but he was happy that those bastards were gone. They had been nothing but trouble. One hurt Sabo. The other was a terrible little bastard who deserved more than just a single punch for shooting Hachi and trying to buy Camie.

"We do what we want. We are pirates. It didn't seem like it made that much of a difference as to who was in charge of the government."

"That does make sense. We never really were ones to follow the rules so it doesn't much matter. But what I am curious about is what happens to that bastard Sakazuki now?" Luffy asked

"Well, I'm not sure. Last I heard from Koala was that they were working to merge their troops and the Marines together which is going to take some time. It sounded like they were trying to work within the structure and ranks of the Marines. I don't think they could really touch Sakazuki. He was the Fleet Admiral of the Marines. He can't just disappear. I have to assume your father would take an equally large role. But if I had to guess I bet Kuzan might be given an important role. I am certain Fujitora, Tsuru & Smoker just to name a few will retain their positions within the Marines. But there are so many people within both organizations, it is impossible to known who would be assigned roles within the New Marines."

"So, Sakazuki is no longer the only one in charge?" Luffy asked

"I'm surprised that the Revolutionaries would allow someone like Sakazuki to stay in power, regardless of how many equals he has." Franky said

"It's difficult. As I said, they can't just kill him or imprison him. To the rest of the world he has done nothing wrong. We could tell that his methods were different and extreme. But to the world as a whole he was doing his job. Making the world safe and protecting the people from dangerous pirates. They were left in the dark as to how he got things accomplished. They didn't know what he was willing to do to get results."

"I'm surprised the Revolutionaries would settle for this." Sanji said. "I thought they wanted to over throw the government."

"I think they accomplished what they set out to do. They wanted to gain a foothold in the governing bodies of the world. The Revolutionaries can work to weed out the people in the Marines who abuse their power. The Tenryuubito and the Gorosei were a large portion of the problem. With them gone they can focus on running a government that doesn't turn a blind eye to slavery or to the destruction of a country and it's people just because they want to learn about history and why an entire century had been removed from history." Robin said as she started to get upset.

Which was strange for Robin. Her personality swung to the morbid, more often than not. It was a rare sight to see Robin like this. Zoro walked over to her and brought her into a tight embrace. Neither one said anything for a little while. Zoro just held the woman who meant the world to him. He had a strange way of showing his love but it worked for them. Being wrapped up in Zoro's arms, she knew she was safe and loved. After a little while Robin just cried. The crew was shocked to say the least. This truly was a side of Robin they had never seen. In all of their years together, there was only one time they could actually remember Robin ever crying. Enies Lobby. Aside from that she never really cried. She would get teary eyed over things, sure but never full on tears like she was crying now.

She always so strong and held everything in when it came to her past. It was in the past. No reason to worry about it now. Because it happened she got to where she is now. Maybe it was the fact that now she was finally able to talk about it?

When she brought up the change of command, some of her friends and crew members were more surprised than others but they took it in stride and asked questions they thought relevant. She answered them to the best of her ability with what she knew.

She had learned a lot during her two years with the Revolutionaries. They helped fill in what she didn't know about the night that turned her world upside down. She learned who had ordered the attack that wiped Ohara off of the map. She was more than ecstatic when she learned that the Gorosei had been removed from power, they would no longer be able to hurt anyone else because their existence inconvenienced them. Sakazuki's hand in the slaughter of the innocent people of Ohara would be a problem that would likely go unresolved.

Whatever it was that brought Robin to tears, she knew it was a long time coming. She had been so strong for more than two decades. But with her friends and her boyfriend/ lover there for her she felt like she could finally cry. She had held back many tears for too many years. But she didn't have to be strong for herself anymore. She had friends who would protect her. Long ago Saul told her no one was born to be alone. It wasn't until years later that she would actually learn that it was true. It had been a difficult concept and one that was always in the back of her mind. But she had learned at an early age that she would only be able to rely on herself if she was to survive. But that all changed when she first met the Straw hats.

She didn't know she would end up joining them. After they defeated Crocodile she figured at the very least she found another shield to protect herself for a time. But then when they sailed into Water 7 she saw CP9. She gave herself up. She never imagined that she would be willing to give herself up to protect the people she would later call her family. She was willing to sacrifice herself but she never expected that her family would ever come to her aide and make an enemy of the entire government just for her.

All of these thoughts went through her head. At this point she didn't even care that Sakazuki still had a hand in the game. She was with her family and she was going to stay with them for as long as she lived. There was nothing that would be able to pull her apart from her family. That was around the time sleep claimed her. She was so tired from crying that she fell asleep in Zoro's muscular arms. He picked her up like a princess and walked up the stairs, as he reached the top of the stairs he pushed their door open with his shoulder and walked in. He put his lady on their bed and covered her up with a blanket. He bent over and kissed her forehead before he walked out of the door and closed it behind him.

"Is Robin okay?" Nami asked once Zoro made it back down to the grass deck.

"Yeah, she's sleeping. I have no idea why she started crying. But if she feels better after all that, I guess it's okay. She had a difficult life, always on the run."

"Yeah, even though she's safe here. I guess she just finally was able to let go of everything she had held onto up until this point." Nami said

"It's strange that it took this long. Maybe she just needed to talk about it. I'm not the most talkative person in the world." Zoro said

"That may be so. But I saw the way she held onto you. She must have felt very safe in your arms. I mean this is an entirely different side to Robin. Certainly one she doesn't like to show very often, and probably for good reason."

"Yeah, she has been one way for so long. I just hope she will be okay after this."

"She is incredibly strong. When she wakes up she will be all the better for it."

"That helps a lot, thanks Nami."

"You're welcome." Nami said before she walked away

"What, no smart remark about increasing my debt?"

"Not this time, it would have ruined the moment."

Neither Nami nor Zoro said anything after that. They just walked in two separate directions. Nami went up to the helm to check their heading. Zoro went back to nap under the tree on deck.

Marines were no longer chasing the Straw Hats. While Zoro and Robin were gone the marine ships went back to port. Their peaceful time on the sea was short lived. Just a few hours later while the Straw Hats were sailing another ship would come up from behind them.

The Straw hats had just sailed past a large outcrop of rocks. The enemy ship had been well hidden and was just waiting for pray to sail past them. Of course the more observant users of Kenbunshoku Haki knew there were pirates there but they chose to ignore them for the same reason Luffy didn't want to fight the Marines back at the base. They simply would not put up a challenge.

The foolish rookie pirates allowed the unknown ship to sail past them. They were very much unaware of the vast difference in experience, influence but most of all, strength between the two groups. They had been positioned in such a way so they would not be seen. However this was also their downfall. They couldn't see the Jolly Roger of the ships that would sail past them. They were smart enough to have someone serve as a lookout. Their location ended up being more of a hinderance as all they saw was the back of a ship as it sailed past them. Once the other ship was far enough away they raised their anchor and made their move. Once they were no longer hidden behind the outcrop of rocks and within firing range they began launching a barrage of cannonballs at the Sunny. Every single cannonball was dispatched rather quickly.

Eventually they got a good look at the ship."What a strange ship." One of the Pirates said.

"It is, what the hell is that thing on the back, don't tell me it's a cannon." Another said

"That would just be stupid, look at the size of that opening it's massive. Can you imagine what they would shoot out of that." A third pirate said

The captain came up from below deck to check on his subordinate's progress on seizing control of the ship.

"What is going on? How could we have not even slowed that ship down?" The captain said in a very commanding voice. He wasn't clean shaven but he didn't have a beard either. He was a rather generic looking pirate. But in this world generic doesn't necessarily mean weak. Sailing in the east blue doesn't necessarily mean you are weak. In the Straw Hats case this is true but an entirely different story for a majority of the pirates who sail this sea.

Non the less the captain was a man with a mop of orange hair on his head. Think Luffy's hair but orange. He was wearing a black jacket, a tan shirt with dark green pants and black boots. In all he wasn't a very imposing looking man but his voice was deep and when he spoke he spoke with authority. Quite different from the black haired captain we all love.

"Captain." The man said. "We haven't been able to hit their ship. All of the cannonballs are being shot down out of the air, mid flight."

"You're telling me that someone is shooting down our cannonballs, I've never seen someone with reflexes to pull something like that off."

"It's not just in mid air captain. They have also destroyed cannonballs right out of the cannon."

"Don't let it bother you; they can't possibly keep this up for long. Eventually they will run out of ammo." And that was exactly the case. Well actually the opposite. The captain had to order his men to stop their attack. He didn't want to waste all of their resources on one ship. They charged forward at full speed preparing for battle. Unbeknownst to them the straw hats were letting the other pirates catch up.

"Hey Nami have you ever seen that Jolly Roger?" Luffy asked

"Nope, can't say that I have. Robin would be the one to ask about this sort of thing but even she might not know who they are."

Eventually the straw hats came to a stop and let the ship sail up next to them.

"I can't believe it. They are just inviting us to come steal from them." One pirate said

"It can't be that easy." The first mate said

Well they sailed their ship up next to the Sunny and they too came to a stop. They stopped on the left or port side of the Sunny.

"What a ridiculous Jolly Roger."One pirate said.

"Why do I feel like I've seen that somewhere before?" Another pirate said

"ATTACK." The captain yelled.

That is what the crew of the other ship did. The pirates made it on board the Sunny without any problem. But to their surprise not a single pirate was on the deck trying to defend their ship. The other crew had free reign of the ship until the kitchen door opened and two members walked out. One was a scantily clad, busty, orange haired woman and the other was what appeared to be their pet reindeer.

Just a few moments earlier in the kitchen

"They will be making their way on board in the next few minutes." Franky said. "Who do we send out to fight them? It really should only take one of us."

"This method never fails." Sanji said holding onto eight straws of varying lengths. "The two who pull the shortest pieces go outside."

"Fine" the seven other straw hats said. And so they each pulled a straw and well you already know the results. So the winners in much of the crews eyes got to walk outside. They walked to the door and when they opened it were greeted with two dozen pirates.

"What the hell is this?" One pirate yelled. "A woman." He said in a very embarrassed and nervous tone. "And a reindeer?" His tone shifted to annoyed very fast.

"We would like to welcome you pirates onto the Thousand Sunny, our home. We recommend you leave before you get hurt." Nami said

"Yeah, right. What could you possibly do to hurt us?"

"Oh me, plenty. I would be more worried about him." Nami said as she pointed to Chopper who transformed from walk point into his Kung-fu point.

"Nami, I'm tired. I don't want to fight, I would much rather be working on my medicine."

"Did that reindeer just talk and transform? Which one should I be more surprised about because I don't know what to think." The first mate said. That started a discussion amongst themselves for a few moments before Nami broke it up.

"Shut the hell up." Nami said. "You can walk away before any of you get hurt. It's no fun picking on weaklings."

"WEAKLINGS!" They all yelled

"Don't you know who we are?" A pirate said

"Honestly I don't, should I?"

"We are the Red Star pirates." The first mate said

"No idea. I haven't bothered to keep up with all of the new pirates making their way out onto the sea." Nami said. It was then that our favorite blond haired chef walked out onto the terrace outside the kitchen.

"What are you talking about we've been a crew on this sea for two years now." One pirate said. "Some of us have been pirates even longer than that."

"You would think they would be smart enough to know not to challenge us." Sanji said "Would you like to do the honors Nami-san. We don't want any of the idiots to get involved. They will likely just cause needless destruction."

"Of course." Nami pulled her sorcery clima-tact from the holster on her hip and used it to launch a weather egg into the sky. "True, but they might not have any interest in fighting these guys."

"That's also true. I don't really want to needlessly beat the shit out of them." Sanji said

Completely oblivious to Sanji's comment the pirates were looking up in the sky as a cloud formed. "What is that?" The pirates asked

"Thunder breed tempo." Nami said. The next thing that happened should be obvious. The enemy pirates who had made their way onto the ship were electrocuted. They all seemingly fell to the ground unconscious. "That wasn't any fun." Nami said

The captain of the Red Star pirates made his way over to the Sunny to see what had happened after he heard the crack of lightning, had seen the clear skies earlier and had not heard any sounds of an ongoing battle.

"What happened to my crew?" The captain asked

"That's what happens when you challenge the beautiful Nami-san." Sanji said

"I still don't get it, we've never run into anyone this strong." The captain said

"Of course. But that's because of the sheer increase in numbers. The people from this sea always have more to prove as it is the weakest of the four blues. I guess someone claiming the One Piece hasn't stopped anyone from searching." Sanji said

"Yeah, but this time they aren't searching for a place they are searching for the reigning Pirate King. It's for the opportunity to nut up and try to challenge the King. You were just unlucky enough to have run into us when you did." Nami said

Hearing those words the pirate captain turned a strange color. He was a mix of blue and green. Blue because he was afraid but also green because he was sick to his stomach. "You don't…mean to tell me that…you're the…Straw Hat pirates?" Then he looked up at the sail and saw the infamous symbol.

"Luffy, come outside please." Nami said

A few seconds later a young man in his early twenties walks out and stands on the veranda outside the kitchen. "What's up Nami?" Luffy asked as he walked over to his girlfriend.

"You're…him…you're…Str…" He didn't even get to finish his sentence before he passed put on the ground. Luffy didn't even use his Haoshoku Haki on him.

All of the Straw hats made their way outside and joined Luffy, Nami, Sanji and Chopper. Robin was brought up to speed when she got out of bed.

"So what do we do with them?" Zoro asked

"Just leave them. I want to see their reactions when they come to." Nami said

"Robin, would you be so kind as to relieve these men of any and all weapons." Luffy said

"Of course. Should I just put them on their ship?"

"Sounds good to me."

Not even two minutes later all of their weapons were back on board their ship. Twenty minutes after that the captain of the enemy pirates who fell unconscious woke up. Around the same time the rest of his crew began to get up. It took them far longer than it would have taken even someone who resided in the Grand Line. When they were all standing, everyone but the captain was furious.

"You bitch, how dare you do that to us." One pirates said

"Hold your tongue you bastard. You should be wary of how you speak to them. Do you want to get us all killed?"

"What are you talking about captain?"

"These pirates aren't just your run of the mill pirates. They're the Straw Hat pirates."

"WWHHHHAAAAATTTT!" they all yelled

"Well, it looks like you're all awake." Luffy said "You all have a nice nap?"

"It's…it's…Straw Hat Luffy."

All of the pirates turned tail and ran for their lives. The captain stayed behind. He was just standing there. He was kind of awe struck and terrified all at the same time.

"I'm surprised you haven't run away yet." Zoro said.

"I…I…can't move."

"This isn't a pirate thing to do but I have to apologize for intruding on your ship." The captain said before he fell to the ground. "Please don't kill us, we have so much to see."

"We're not going to. Besides we knew you were hiding behind those rocks back there. If we wanted you dead, you wouldn't be here right now. You would be at the bottom of the ocean." Zoro said. A look on his face that said he wasn't playing around.

"You're really going to let us go? Just like that?" The captain asked

"Yup, just like that." Luffy said as he walked over to the man and offered him a helping hand up. The man grabbed Luffy's hand and Luffy pulled him up off the deck. "You didn't hurt any of my nakama. If you did, not that you could've things would've been very different."

"Thank you Straw Hat. I won't forget this kindness."

"Don't worry about it. Go explore, follow your dreams."

He didn't say anything. What could he say? He had the intention of attacking the pirate kings ship. He was glad they didn't actually do any damage. He didn't really get a chance to. To top it off he was just given a get out of jail free card and he wasn't going to waste it. He walked over to the railing of the Sunny and made his way back over to his ship.

"Let's get out of here men." The captain said. "We survived an encounter with the Straw Hats, we will be legends on this sea, we should head for the Grand Line and test our metal." The Red Star pirates readied their ship and started to sail away from the Straw Hats.

"Zoro if you would be so kind." Luffy said

"Not going to let them leave unscathed?"

"Nope, just hearing think that they think they will be legends because we let them walk away would make us look bad. But at the same time we shouldn't need to waste our energy fighting such weaklings."

"A catch 22?" Sanji said

"Well we do have a reputation to uphold." Luffy said before he cracked a smile and started laughing. "Not too bad Zoro."

"Alright, just as a means to show them what they have to look forward to in the Grand Line." Zoro said

"Hey guys, one thing before you go." Luffy yelled

They had made the mistake of sailing in front of the Sunny. They had been doing various jobs around the ship. When they heard Luffy yell over to them they all halted what they were doing and saw Roronoa Zoro standing on the railing with one sword drawn. One simple slash later a portion of the back of their ship had been cut off and fell into the ocean.

The red star pirates were dumbfounded and they all fell onto their deck with a collective thud.

"Don't go running your mouths." Zoro said "Be glad we are letting you go. I could just have easily cut your ship in half."

The other pirates were silent as they drifted along.

A few minutes later the Straw Hats sailed off.

"You think they had any good treasure?" Nami asked

"Really? Are you serious?" Usopp asked "You have access to all of this gold and you are still curious."

"Can never have too much treasure, Usopp." Nami said

"Whatever." Usopp said. "You think they are going to go to the Grand Line?"

"Maybe, but to tell you the truth, I don't really care." Zoro said

"So how long until we get to Syrup Village?" Luffy asked

"We should get there first thing in the morning." Nami said

"Sounds good to me." Luffy said. "You excited to see your friends again Usopp?"

"Of course I am. I have thought about this day for years. How will they react? I just left one day without saying anything. They saw my face for the first time after what happened in Dressrosa, beat up as it was I have been wondering if they would recognize me?"

"I guess you will get your answers tomorrow, Usopp-san." Brook said "I find it interesting getting to see where you five spent your childhoods, having not been present for much of your adventures on the Grand Line. Getting to see a little of what shaped each of you into the person you are now has been an experience so far. Will we be revisiting some of the islands you visited on your first trip through the Grand Line?"

"Of course we will." Luffy said. "We won't be going back to Whiskey Peak or Little Garden. We will be going to Alabasta, Drum Kingdom & Water 7."

"Oh, that's right. I can't believe I forgot about Masters Dorry and Brogy. I'm still surprised they joined up with Hajrudin." Usopp said "When we met them they had long since forgotten the reason for their fight. But they continued fighting each other for their pride. What would make them give that up?"

"Didn't they each have their own crews back over 100 years ago?" Sanji asked "They never did tell us why they joined Hajrudin. Maybe he challenged them to a fight and they lost?"

"Well for whatever the reason, he succeeded in bringing the giant pirates back together." Usopp said. "That really was a sight to behold. All of the giants we met, under one flag."

"I'm just glad we won't be going back to Little Garden. That was where I got sick." Nami said

"I was surprised to see you all managed to escape from that island." Robin said "I knew that you would be going to that island after Whiskey Peak. I had never heard of someone leaving that island."

"Oh, that's right. You gave us an Eternal Pose and tried to get us to go to… what was the name of that island?" Usopp asked

"Nani mo nai shima." Robin said

"Luffy, you didn't mention Skypiea. Don't you want to go back?" Sanji asked

"It would be fun to go back." Luffy said

"But we have no idea when or where the Knock Up Stream might appear." Nami said

"How far up do we have to go?" Franky asked

"What is it? 7000m to the White sea then another 3000m to the White White Sea." Nami said

"That's correct Nami." Robin said

"It's not even getting up there that scares me. It's coming back down." Chopper said

"No need to worry, Sunny can handle the journey. I will work something up so that we can make it up and down safely." Franky said "Come to think of it you guys came to Water 7 after your trip to that Sky Island, didn't you?"

"Yes we did. Merry didn't fair too well." Usopp said.

"No, but she was still an amazing little ship." Franky said

"Yes she was, it's a shame I couldn't bring Merry back here." Usopp said

"She won't be made Usopp, there was nothing we could have done for her." Luffy said as he walked over to Usopp and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Usopp said

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Nothing else really happened at night either. Eventually they all went to bed. In the morning they would be at a new island. Usopp was rather restless but still managed to fall asleep. The next morning Usopp was the first to wake up. He was up even before Sanji. He went up to the crows nest to watch the waves as they drifted ever closer to the island where he grew up.

* * *

 **One Piece Nation: I don't think Kuina is alive. I would be really surprised if she just showed up in Wano.**

 **Darkangel665: You will have to wait one more chapter. But I hope you enjoy it when I put it up.**

 **Lightningblade49: I think I opened up the story even more at this point. I have more ideas to change it up even more. Whether or not I use them I have no idea.**


	6. UPDATE! New Chapter Incoming

Hello,

So in my second story: Promises to keep, The journey to see old friends. I want to mix up the dynamic a little bit. I am thinking about adding some people to the Straw Hats. Not as full on crew members but as acquaintances who are just along for the ride or someone who is looking to learn something from one of the crew members.

I have a few ideas but I would like to hear from you. I will put up a poll with my thoughts for characters. But since you can't leave ideas there, message me or leave a review with your request. I would like your input. I have a chapter nearing completion and I want to see if this is something you readers might enjoy. Something to mix up the crew dynamic. Thanks for any and all input.

As a side note I am working on the next chapter for Luffy's Journey to Become King Again. I won't promise when it will come out. But it is coming.

Thanks,

bigrc71


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